MADISON (WI)
Journal Sentinel [Milwaukee WI]
April 28, 2023
By Laura Schulte
A newly proposed bill could extend the amount of time victims of child sexual abuse have to file civil cases against their abuser or the organizations that protected their abuser.
A bill circulated Tuesday for co-sponsorship seeks to allow victims to file civil suits until age 45, instead of capping the age at 35, and applies that time limit to a broader range of actions. If passed, the bill — known as the “Child Victims Act” — would allow a survivor to take civil action “for injury resulting from being subject, as a child,” to any sexual contact by an adult or adult member of the clergy,” according to the information circulated with the proposed legislation.
But the bill doesn’t open a “look-back” window for those older than 45 to file suits against their abuser or organizations, something that advocates and survivors have requested for years. Eliminating the statute of limitations for civil cases would allow many more survivors to pursue justice.
“This is not the bill victims want at all,” said Peter Isely of the anti-clergy abuse group Nate’s Mission and the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).
“There should be no civil statute on child sexual abuse. It should be eliminated. Forty-five years is an arbitrary amount of time. If you have evidence, witnesses and proof, you should be able to bring your civil case.”
Isely said research has shown that, on average, survivors aren’t ready to come forward until around age 52. So age 45 just isn’t enough time.
But legislators say they removed that window from the legislation in an effort to ensure the bill gets a hearing and gets a chance to be voted on by the Legislature.
“This was a compromise that we made in order to be able to move this ball forward,” said Sen. Melissa Agard, D-Madison, one of the bill’s authors. “I understand that there will be people who may be frustrated and disappointed by this process, but I strongly believe that we are providing a path forward for many people that currently does not exist.
“As adults and as lawmakers, I really feel like it is a paramount responsibility to protect our kids in our state. And unfortunately, we can’t always do that. But this is, I feel, powerful legislation to allow people to heal.”
Currently, prosecutors have until a victim turns 45 to bring criminal charges of child sexual assault, sexual exploitation of a child and other crimes against children. In civil cases, a claim must be filed before the victim turns 35 — including lawsuits against a clergy member or religious organization.
The 2003 law also requires clergy members to contact authorities if they believe a child has been sexually assaulted, or if another church leader sexually abused a child. However, they don’t need to report suspected abuse if they find out about it through confidential, private communications such as a confessional, provided the religion’s tenets — whether in writing or not — require those communications to be kept secret.
But there have been several attempts to amend the law.
Wisconsin lawmakers revisited the statute of limitations in 2008 and introduced bipartisan legislation — initially backed by now-Assembly Speaker Robin Vos — that would have eliminated the time limit for civil action. But state lobbying records show religious groups, including the Catholic Conference and the Wisconsin Council of Religious and Independent Schools, spent hours advocating against the bill.
Lawmakers held a public hearing on a proposal but never voted on it.
The measure was reintroduced in 2009 and faced similar opposition from lobbyists and Catholic leaders, who repeated arguments that it would ultimately harm the parishioners they serve.
The bill didn’t get a floor vote that year, either. When Democrats revived the measure in more recent sessions, it never got a public hearing.
But with bipartisan support for the bill, lawmakers hope to see movement this session, and that the bill will at least get a hearing.
“This building is a building of negotiation and compromise,” said Sen. Jesse James, R-Altoona, another of the bill’s authors, about the state Capitol.
“Hopefully, we can bring this victory to the floor and get it passed to the governor’s desk and get it signed.”
Isely said that even if the bill isn’t what he and others were hoping to see proposed, getting a hearing will offer survivors a chance to share their stories with lawmakers.
“Let’s have to hear it because then we can have this discussion,” he said.
Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@jrn.com and on Twitter at @SchulteLaura.