NEW YORK
The New York Times
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
AUG. 13, 2014
Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill last week that adds compensated public school coaches to the list of professionals, including teachers, required to report to authorities suspected cases of child sexual abuse and other maltreatment. This leaves uncovered some (but not all) private and parochial school coaches, volunteer coaches and college-level coaches. And it does nothing to elevate New York’s low ranking when it comes to providing justice to the victims of child sexual abuse. That shabby distinction is directly related to the state’s failure to extend its severely short statute of limitations in child-sexual-abuse cases.
Serious abuse cases involving institutions like Yeshiva University High School for Boys, Horace Mann and Penn State show that it can take years before victims are emotionally and psychologically ready to come forward. Many states have made changes to better align their statutes of limitation with that practical reality. But not New York, where people have just until age 23 in most circumstances to bring a claim against their abusers.
By comparison, Hawaii, in 2012, extended its time limit for civil lawsuits by child victims from 20 to the age of 26, or to three years from the time the victim realizes the abuse caused harm. The Hawaii reform also created a two-year window to allow victims to file claims even if the statute of limitations under the old law had expired. Hawaii lawmakers recently tacked on another two-year window. And, just a few week ago, the Massachusetts governor, Deval Patrick, signed a law raising the limit for filing civil lawsuits against abusers from age 21 to 53.
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