MASSACHUSETTS
Wicked Local Pembroke
By Kyle Cheney, State House News Service
State House News Service
Posted Mar 27, 2012
Boston —
House lawmakers are working to redraft a plan that would eliminate time restrictions on prosecuting perpetrators of sexual abuse against children, Speaker Robert DeLeo said Monday, indicating that a “constitutionally correct” version of the proposal could be passed into law by the end of July.
“At the end of the day, we have to come up with a bill that will pass constitutional muster and you know that has to be something of a concern,” DeLeo told reporters after exiting a meeting with Gov. Deval Patrick. “Because at the end of the day if we do not do that, then the first time this bill is tested and is thrown out, you know, it will come back to fall on the Legislature as to why so-and-so wasn’t convicted because the statute wasn’t constitutionally correct.”
“We’ll take some more time and make sure at the end of the day we’ve got a bill that has that balance,” he added. “Some of the attorneys representing some of the victims have been to my office expressing concern. I’ve got some folks in my district expressing concern … Hopefully we’re going to be able to get something done.”
Eliminating the so-called statute of limitations for sexual abuse crimes against children has been a wrenching issue on Beacon Hill over the years, with victims of abuse, and their attorneys, deluging lawmakers with appeals to loosen the statute of limitations or repeal it outright. In recent weeks, supporters of that change have claimed that more than 100 members of the 160-member House have signified support for the proposal (H 469) sponsored by Majority Leader Ronald Mariano.
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