MARYLAND
Baptist News
By Bob Allen
A mother who says her 3-year-old daughter was sexually abused at a prominent D.C.-area evangelical church urged Maryland lawmakers March 12 to extend the statute of limitations for bringing a civil suit against a child sexual abuser.
Pam Palmer — a plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit alleging abuse and cover-up at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Md., and parent organization Sovereign Grace Ministries — told the Judicial Proceedings Committee of the Maryland General Assembly her case was dismissed in 2013, primarily due to the state’s current statute of limitations.
Currently the law requires victims of child sex abuse to file a lawsuit within seven years of turning 18. The problem with that, Palmer and other witnesses testified, is that because of the peculiar psychological impact of violation by a family member, minister or trusted neighbor, many victims never talk about it until later in life than age 25.
“Sex abuse survivors often face lifelong psychological trauma, unable to deal with it until their 30s, 40s or even 50s,” Palmer said. “Sex abuse survivors have a high incidence of psychological disorders and suicide attempts, often needing years of therapy. When the abuse is incestuous, there are complex family issues involved that can delay reporting. When there is pressure to not report from religious leaders, it can take decades for victims to break free from indoctrination and come forward.”
Palmer says when she learned her 3-year-old daughter was sexually abused in 1993 her pastors advised her not to call the police. Six months later, the dismissed lawsuit claimed, the child was re-victimized by a “reconciliation” meeting organized with her abuser “as if a 3-year-old was supposed to forgive the perpetrator.”
“I was absolutely terrified,” daughter Renee Gambi remembered last June while distributing fliers outside the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Baltimore. “As soon as I could, I crawled under my mom’s chair.”
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