Sex-abuse Bill Stalls Once More in State Capital

By Sophia Hollander
Wall Street Journal
June 11, 2015

http://www.wsj.com/articles/sex-abuse-bill-stalls-once-more-in-state-capital-1434070799

A renewed drive to overhaul New York’s statute of limitations for sexual-abuse cases involving minors appears to have stalled in the state Legislature, despite attracting a record number of sponsors this year, advocates said.

Legislative attempts to revamp the statute date back a decade. Versions of the bill have passed four times in the Assembly, but never received a vote in the Senate. The legislative session ends on June 17.

Under current law, people who were sexually abused as minors have five years after they turn 18 to file a claim against their alleged abuser.

The bill, which attracted more than 60 sponsors in the Assembly, including more than a dozen Republicans, would eliminate civil and criminal statutes of limitations for sex crimes against minors.