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Ministry Watch [Matthews NC]
February 11, 2025
By Kim Roberts
Fifteen states have proposed legislation to extend the statute of limitations, among other measures.
Currently, 15 states are considering legislation that would extend or eliminate the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse crimes and civil lawsuits.
The reform movement to change the statute of limitations for those experiencing this childhood trauma has been growing.
According to CHILDUSA, 44 states have no criminal statute of limitations for some or all child sexual abuse, 22 states have no civil statute of limitations for some or all child sexual abuse, and 30 states have revival or “look back” window laws that allow for claims that would otherwise be expired under a statute of limitations.
“Look back” or revival windows can be important because sexual abuse survivors often delay reporting the conduct for years due to trauma. In the case of child sex abuse, the average age at the time of reporting is about 52 years, Briggham Winkler, general editor for the Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention (ECAP), told MinistryWatch for a previous article. He added that most survivors probably never disclose the abuse they suffer.
State lawmakers across the country have proposed further reforms.
For instance, in Missouri, where the sexual abuse by a staff member at Kanakuk Kamps took place, several pieces of legislation have been introduced affecting the statutes of limitations related to child sexual abuse.
“The fact that some of these circumstances happened in the Branson area has really put it on the front burner for me. Because it happened right there in our town,” Missouri Rep. Brian Seitz told Ozarks Public Radio. “And if we can stop it from happening anywhere else, or bring these people who have done this heinous crime to get their justice, we’re going to do that.”
A constitutional amendment in Missouri would establish a permanent revival window for civil child sexual abuse claims. A second bill would also establish a permanent revival window and eliminate the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits stemming from child sexual abuse. And a third introduced bill would create cause of action for intentional disclosure or threatened disclosure of an intimate image without the depicted individual’s consent, essentially giving the victim a right to sue under such circumstances, and would have a statute of limitations extending until the victim reaches the age of 22.
Three other bills introduced my Missouri legislators would extend the statute of limitations related to child sexual abuse to age 41 or 3 years after discovery, whichever is later.
In Texas, where Gateway Church is located, lawmakers have introduced three reform bills related to child sexual abuse. Robert Morris, the founding pastor of Gateway Church, resigned last year after Cindy Clemishire came forward with allegations that she was abused by Morris in the 1980s, beginning when she was 12 years old.
A proposed constitutional amendment in Texas would allow a person to bring a civil personal injury suit for conduct that violates the penal law, such as sexual assault of a child, trafficking of a child, or indecency with a child.
Another bill would eliminate the criminal statute of limitations for failing to stop or report the sexual assault of a child, while a third bill would include “invasive visual recording of a child” in the list of crimes for which the statute of limitations would be extended to age 38.
Other states with legislation establishing or extending revival windows include Arkansas, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and South Carolina.
Boz Tchividjian, an attorney who represents survivors in sexual abuse cases, supports revival window statutes, but he would eliminate statutes of limitations in sexual abuse cases altogether.
“I’m not really a fan of statutes of limitations to begin with because they are arbitrary and a result of political negotiations,” he told MinistryWatch in 2023.
If a case is really old, it will have enough challenges, like lack of evidence or difficulty finding witnesses, without being barred by the statute of limitations, Tchividjian said. He thinks the justice system should vet these cases.