NEW YORK
Forward
January 12, 2017 By Josh Nathan-Kazis
New York State governor Andrew Cuomo has a new proposal that would lift the statute of limitations that has prevented victims of sex abuse from seeking justice for crimes committed against them as children.
According to a report in the New York Daily News, Cuomo’s proposed bill would end all time limits on criminal prosecutions of sexual abusers of children, and would allow victims to bring civil suits for up to 50 years after they were attacked.
In addition, the law would create a one-year period in which otherwise ineligible survivors would be entitled to bring lawsuits against their abusers.
Cuomo has been promising action on the issue for years, but has faced stiff opposition from Republicans in the New York State Senate, among others. The Orthodox umbrella group Agudath Israel of America has lobbied against an extension of the statute, as have other religious groups.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.