LITTLE ROCK (AR)
KATV [Little Rock, AR]
January 13, 2025
By Rowdy Baribeau
Arkansas Senator David Wallace (R-District 19) and House sponsor, State Representative Jimmy Gazaway (R-District 31) filed a new bill Monday to protect the rights of more than 500 Arkansas survivors of child sexual abuse in Scouting.
Many of the former scouts have pending claims in the Boy Scouts Bankruptcy Settlement Trust.
The bill, SB13, is the third bill sponsored by Wallace and Gazaway in recent memory and it is designed to protect Arkansas children from sexual abuse and to protect the rights of survivors of sexual abuse.
The Justice for Vulnerable Victims of Sexual Abuse Act was signed into law, in 2021. Since then, there is no longer a statute of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse in Arkansas.
The Act also provided a two-year “lookback window” in recognition of the fact that many victims struggle to come forward with their abuse until far into adulthood.
During the “lookback window,” which ends on January 31, 2026, survivors of any age can confront their abusers no matter how long ago the abuse occurred. Gazaway said the bill could benefit children by deterring predatory activity away from children.
“It is important to remember that the Act does more than simply provide victims the right to confront their perpetrators in court,” Gazaway said. “It is also a potentially powerful deterrent to would-be child predators currently residing within our borders, which helps keep Arkansas children safe.”
The potential deterrent effect of the bill cannot be overly-emphasized. In Arkansas, recent studies show the state has the highest rate of sexual abuse reports in the nation with 267 cases per 100,000 children reported.
That is more than triple the national rate.
Arkansas also has the second-highest rate of sex offenders residing in the state, with more than 19,000.
One of those offenders, James “Darrell” Nesmith, a former pediatrician, filed a legal challenge to prevent his child victims from having the right to sue him now because they are grown. In turn, Nesmith is pleading that his 500 victims should be denied the right to compensation for the crimes committed against them, which they have already received in the Boy Scouts Bankruptcy Settlement Trust.
SB13 is described as a “separate and narrowly tailored piece of legislation” that built on previous efforts to preserve and protect awards already obtained by Arkansas victims in the Boy Scouts Bankruptcy Trust.
The victims have already faced their abusers and won settlements, but it is in jeopardy if Nesmith is successful in his attempt to have the Justice for Vulnerable Victims of Sexual Abuse Act declared unconstitutional by the Arkansas Court of Appeals.
Nesmith will make an argument to the Arkansas Court of Appeals at a hearing on January 22, 2025, where he will ask the court to repeal the Justice for Vulnerable Victims of Sexual Abuse Act.
Should that happen, his victims will be unable to sue for monetary damages and then the 500 survivors of Scouting abuse in Arkansas will be left with nothing and the money will go to victims of other states.
“The Justice for Vulnerable Victims of Sexual Abuse Act is among the most significant pieces of legislation I have been a part of,” Wallace said. “It makes children in Arkansas safer. What can be more important than that? Certainly not the wishes of Mr. Nesmith or other convicted sex offenders here in Arkansas. I am hopeful the Arkansas high courts will uphold the Act, and choose the rights of the victims over those of the predator,” Wallace said.