NY Senate Rejects Effort to Allow Child Sexual Abuse Victims to Sue Years Later

By Mike McAndrew
Syracuse.com
May 23, 2016

http://www.syracuse.com/state/index.ssf/2016/05/ny_senate_rejects_effort_to_allow_child_sexual_abuse_victims_to_sue_years_later.html

Sen. Brad Hoylman

The New York State Senate rejected Monday an attempt to force a vote on legislation that would give people sexually abused as children a one-year window to sue over decades-old incidents.

The Senate voted 30-29 against allowing Sen. Brad Hoylman, D-Manhattan, to add controversial provisions eliminating the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse to an unrelated bill that requires hospital emergency rooms and other sites to hang posters about a human trafficking resource center hotline.

The Senate then unanimously passed the human trafficking hotline bill without the amendment that Hoylman was trying to add.

In New York, people who were sexually abused as children must initiate criminal charges or a civil suit by the time they reach 23 or they are barred from doing either.

Victims of sexual abuse have been pressuring state lawmakers to pass bills sponsored by Hoylman and Assemblywoman Margaret Markey that would give victims a one-year window to file lawsuits over past sexual abuse no matter how long ago the incident allegedly occurred. Going forward, the bills would eliminate the time restrictions for bringing a civil suit or criminal charges for sexually abusing a child. The bill would allow lawsuits to be filed against individuals, their employers and institutions, both public and private.

On the Senate floor, Hoylman said his amendment would "give survivors a chance at justice."

Senate Republicans spokesman Scott Reif said, "The Senate Democrats have engaged in an unfortunate political stunt at a time when we are attempting to have an honest and serious discussion about this issue. While we are currently reviewing a number of bills on this topic, it's clear that the members of the Senate Republican Conference will continue to work extraordinarily hard to protect the victims of sexual assault."

Advocates of the legislation have criticized Sen. John DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse, for opposing the bill. DeFrancisco was also criticized by the New York Daily News for refusing to meet with sexual abuse victims who showed up at his Albany office without an appointment.

DeFrancisco said he thinks a statute of limitations is necessary.

Meanwhile, Gary Greenberg, a minority owner of the Vernon Downs racino, who said he was sexually abused as a child, has vowed to spend $100,000 or more this year to try to defeat DeFrancisco and other senators if they refuse to support the legislation to eliminate the statute of limitations for child sexual assault victims, The Daily News reported.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said last week he would like to see the child sexual abuse bill approved by the Legislature before the June 16 end of the Legislature's session.

The state Assembly overwhelmingly passed similar bills sponsored by Markey in 2007 and 2008, but it has not passed one since then. The Senate has never voted on the legislation.

Contact: mmcandrew@syracuse.com