Advocates for Child Abuse Act trash proposed N.Y. State Assembly bill

By Kenneth Lovett
New York Daily News
June 12, 2016

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/advocates-child-abuse-act-reject-n-y-assembly-bill-article-1.2671238

Politicians and child abuse survivors rally June 5 in Brooklyn for legislation to make it easier for child sex abuse victims to seek justice, but some say Assembly bill is insufficient. Photo by Jefferson Siegel

Front page of the New York Daily News for May 3, 2016 on Child Victims Act: "Say NO to our face"

The Assembly chamber in the State Capitol in Albany on Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Photo by Jefferson Siegel

ALBANY — Advocate opposition to an Assembly bill making it easier for child sex abuse survivors to seek justice may be the final nail in the coffin on the issue this year, legislative insiders say.

Assembly Democrats introduced a bill last week they believe holds the most promise of passing the chamber. The bill would extend the statute of limitations to bring a case to a victim’s 28th birthday, up from 23.

It would also open a six-month window to revive old cases and treat public and private institutions equally when it comes to dealing with sex abuse cases.

But advocates were quick to trash the bill for not going far enough. They want the statute of limitations eliminated or greatly extended.

That could spell doom since it’s unlikely the Senate Republicans would accept a bill that goes further than the Assembly proposal.

“I don’t know why they came out of the gate like that,” said one insider. “This is a way forward.”

While no one officially declared the measure dead, those interviewed acknowledged the strong unlikelihood that Gov. Cuomo, the Assembly and Senate can reach a deal on a joint bill before the legislative session’s scheduled end Thursday.

“Unless you do exactly what the advocates are calling for, what’s the point in even trying to reach a three-way, negotiated solution?” asked a second legislative insider. “The advocates did themselves no favors here.”

Some complain the criticism, which was referenced on Thursday by Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-Suffolk County), has simply given the GOP cover not to reach a deal.

A third source said that while the advocates currently have the most momentum on the issue thanks to a Daily News campaign, it might serve them better to wait to see how the fight for control of the Senate plays out in this fall’s elections. The Senate Democrats have pushed the most comprehensive plan on the issue.

Gary Greenberg, an upstate investor who says he was sexually abused as a child in 1966 and called the Assembly plan “garbage,” said lawmakers need to look at themselves in the mirror and help victims.

“How can you blame people who have been victimized already?” Greenberg asked angrily. “The legislators are being paid to do a job. Do it.”

He said the Catholic Church has fought against a tougher bill and should be called out by legislators as protecting predators.

Greenberg, who has created a political action committee to go after senators who oppose the Child Victims Act, suggests a bill that includes allowing a victim to bring a lawsuit until they are 591/2, has a nine-month window to revive old cases and caps at $1 million monetary awards to victims in civil cases.

“You take (age) 28, that will be it for years,” he said of the statute of limitations contained in the Assembly bill.

Kathryn Robb, an advocate and child sex abuse survivor, said Sunday that “as a collective and seasoned group of advocates, there is the understanding that the Assembly has launched a first positive step forward for victims of child sex abuse.”

But she called it “ironic” that some in the Legislature are blaming the advocates for the bill’s possible demise this year.

“The victims get victimized; it seems to be the commonality,” Robb said. “I can only hope the leadership in both houses just get out from underneath all the crap and present a bill that will help victims and children.”