Law Will Help Prosecute Those Who Sexually Abuse Children

By Patrick McArdle
Times-Argus
June 4, 2013

http://www.timesargus.com/article/20130604/THISJUSTIN/706049835

BENNINGTON — Under new legislation, which Gov. Peter Shumlin signed into law in Bennington on Monday, the statute of limitations for certain sex crimes committed against children has been extended so the crimes can be reported up to 40 years after they were committed. Shumlin, who signed the bill at the Bennington County Child Advocacy Center, thanked the legislators and prosecutors who “saw a wrong and chose to right it.”

“We all know that with a crime like this … it often takes years and years and years and years before the victim is able or ready or willing to talk about their trauma and ensure that justice is served,” he said.

Among those who attended the signing of the bill were Bennington County State’s Attorney Erica Marthage, Bennington County House representatives Ann Mook, Mary Morrissey and Alice Miller and Detective Anthony Silvestro of the Bennington Police Department, who is assigned to investigate sexual crimes in Bennington.

However, Shumlin said special thanks should go to Christina Rainville, Bennington County’s chief deputy state’s attorney, and Sen. Richard “Dick” Sears, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Rainville had suggested the law to Sears and advocated strongly for its passage.

As an example of the importance of the change in the law, Rainville pointed to the prosecution of Penn State Coach Jerry Sandusky. Charges brought against Sandusky were based on the accusations of eight men who came forward years after the abuse. Rainville pointed out that under Vermont law, as it existed until Monday, the state would have been able to prosecute Sandusky on only two of those eight cases.

Sears, who represents Bennington County in the Vermont Senate, said he introduced the legislation after realizing that the previous law “didn’t make sense.” The law that was changed Monday said charges must be brought either within 10 years after the sexual abuse or before the victim turns 24.

Rainville said she thought the new law was “phenomenal.”

“We’re now going to be able to better protect today’s children because when we have someone who committed crimes 40 years ago, still having contact with children today, we can’t protect today’s children. This eliminates that huge problem with our law,” she said.

Rainville said that reporting a sexual assault that happened in childhood may be even more difficult than the general public believes.

“Studies show that 90 percent of children who are sexually assaulted develop post-traumatic stress disorder which is the same thing our soldiers get. It’s a completely disabling neurological condition. For most of them, they’re spending most of their energy not to be remembering (the assault), not to be triggering and trying to return their life to normalcy,” she said.

Marthage added that because of the efforts to repress those memories, family members frequently don’t know that the child was sexually abused.

Both Rainville and Marthage said victims sometimes need to become adults before they can disclose the abuse because they are intimidated by their older attacker.

Others don’t disclose until their own children reach a certain age and the protective instincts of a parent toward his or her children kick in or until the victim thinks another loved one, like a sibling, is being abused by the same person.

The bill has changed as it passed through the Legislature. In the Senate, the crime could be reported anytime until the victim reached the age of 40.

When the House Judiciary Committee took up the bill, they removed the statute of limitations entirely. The bill passed with the compromise that the crime must be reported within 40 years of the time it occurred.

Rainville said that people should note that the law is not retroactive so the state still wouldn’t be able to prosecute an unreported sexual assault on a child that had taken place more than 10 years ago if the victim is older than 24.

Contact: patrick.mcardle@rutlandherald.com