POLY Prep-inspired Child Victims Act to Be Heard in New York State Assembley Next Month

By Michael O'Keeffe
New York Daily News
February 24, 2013

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/iteam/2013/02/poly-prep-inspired-child-victims-act-to-be-heard-in-new-york-state-assembley-next-mont

New York assemblywoman Margaret Markey is taking her sexual abuse legislation on the road.

Markey, a Democrat from Queens, will hold a hearing on her Child Victims Act, which would eliminate criminal and civil statute of limitations in sex abuse cases in Manhattan on March 8. The bill was inspired in part by scandals at Poly Prep, Penn State and Syracuse.

Markey will hold the hearing with the New York State Assembly Codes Committee. The lawmakers have invited will hear from law enforcement officials, mental health experts and sexual abuse victims testify about why the statute of limitations should be eliminated.

“We are particularly interested in hearing about research that clearly demonstrates why so many victims of abuse do not come to grips with the abuse they have suffered until later in life, long after the current law permits them to come forward, and long after their abusers and those who hide them can be identified and punished,” Markey said in a statement.

“There is no limit on what is so often a life-time of suffering and anguish for victims of child sex abuse; likewise, there must be no limit on the ability of victims and society to prosecute abusers and to hold accountable the institutions and organizations who protect and hide them making it possible for pedophiles to continue to prey on new victims,” she added.

The hearing will be held at the State Office Building, 250 Broadway, at 10 am.