ANNAPOLIS (MD)
WUSA TV
February 23, 2019
By Liz Palka
Advocates and child sex abuse survivors will stand before members of the Maryland House of Delegates on Thursday to testify. The judiciary committee will have a bill before them that would remove the statute of limitations for all child sex abuse cases.
Currently, Maryland law says a victim has until age 38 to file a civil lawsuit. However, those who are older than 25 when they come forward must prove gross negligence, which is something notoriously difficult to prove.
Maryland Delegate C.T. Wilson of Charles County was part of the negotiations for the current law and has sponsored the proposed bill. The delegate has been open about the sexual abuse he experienced as a child.
“I don’t believe [38-years-old] is enough time. That was a negotiation I had with the Catholic Church at the time, as well as the gross negligence, and I’m not negotiating anymore,” said Wilson.
Delegate Wilson says House Bill 687, which will be before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday for a hearing, would remove the statute of limitations.
The bill would make it so a child sex abuse victim could file a lawsuit no matter their age. Wilson is also adding what’s called a “two-year look back window” to include anyone precluded by the statute of limitations.
One of the people testifying on Thursday will be David Lorenz, the Maryland Director of SNAP (the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.) He himself is a survivor of child sex abuse in Kentucky. He expects about a dozen survivors and advocates to testify as well.
“When you’re 16 years old, it’s hard to come to the realization that this mentor of yours was actually a criminal,” explained Wilson. “It’s hard to make that mental leap.”
He went on, “That’s why it’s important to me. I want my fellow survivors to be able to experience the sense of justice I was able to experience. And I think the church needs to be exposed for what they’re doing.”
Wilson says recent news involving the Catholic Church has encouraged him to pursue to House Bill 687.
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