Deadline Looms, Pressure Mounts for Sex Abuse Survivors Thinking of Filing Claims

By Joe Augustine
KSTP
May 20, 2016

http://kstp.com/news/sex-abuse-survivors-deadline-minnesotarsquos-child-victimrsquos-act-civil-claims/4145103/

Survivors of child sex abuse in Minnesota have only five days left to file a claim under a state law that opened a window for civil lawsuits outside the statute of limitations. A state lawmaker says it is doubtful survivors will have another opportunity to take legal action, and advocates say it’s putting pressure on victims who may not feel ready to come forward.

The deadline to file civil claims under Minnesota’s Child Victim’s Act expires May 25.

Cordelia Anderson, a nationally recognized expert on child sex abuse prevention who has counseled adult survivors for forty years, says the deadline has created a “ticking time bomb.”

“What I’ve been hearing is just some painful pressure,” Anderson said Friday.

She believes the state should extend the deadline, re-open the window in the future or, in a perfect world, throw out statute of limitations in old sex abuse cases.

She says many survivors did not know about the state law or thought it only applied to victims of clergy abuse.

“There (are) people who never knew this was even an option, and now they hear it and it’s almost gone,” Anderson said.

A man from Roseville who says he was abused by a former swim coach in the 1970’s says he didn’t learn about the opportunity to take legal action in Minnesota until earlier this year.

“If I had known about this three years ago, I would have come forward much sooner,” said Jon Landstrom, who filed a claim two weeks before the deadline.

He believes there are some survivors who may know about the law but do not feel comfortable coming forward yet.

Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-St. Louis Park) says it is “highly unlikely” another window will open in Minnesota to file sex abuse claims outside the statute of limitations.

Latz helped write the 2013 law and says it took a "Herculean" lobbying effort from advocates to establish even a three year time frame for survivors.

“I would have preferred a lifetime (window to file claims) had I been writing a law without needing to pass it through the legislature,” he said, adding that legislation that would have exposed organizations to open-ended liability was not a possibility.

“The institutions that could potentially be held liable wanted some degree of certainty to close out the past claims,” he said.

At least 880 sex abuse claims have been filed in the past three years, according to two prominent attorneys who represent the majority of survivors.

Most of the claims involve the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the Boy Scouts of America and the Children’s Theatre.

The 2013 law did throw out statutes of limitations for sex abuse cases taking place after the legislation was passed.