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	Bill Drops Plan in Sex Abuse Cases Advocacy Group Wanted Window for Filing Lawsuits Dayton Daily News March 29, 2006 http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/0329house.html Columbus | State lawmakers dropped a proposal Tuesday to allow victims of sexual abuse to file lawsuits in cases up to 35 years old. Victims' advocates lambasted House Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering, for striking what they see as the bill's most important provision, which would have allowed a one-year window for abuse victims who missed the lawsuit deadline to sue. Husted said leaders were unable to reach a compromise that satisfied church officials and a victims' support network. The change was among revisions to a bill that the House Judiciary Committee approved Tuesday. The House is expected to pass the bill. Senate President Bill Harris, R-Ashland, said the Senate likely would agree with the changes. Under current law, victims have two years from their 18th birthday to file civil claims against their abusers. The Senate version of the bill would have extended the limit to 20 years. The House committee reduced it to 12 years, but would give new authority to the state attorney general or county prosecutor in expired cases to file civil action alleging abuse. Victims could use the lawsuits to get an abuser classified for a registry listing. Claudia Vercelloti of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests criticized the 12-year limit. "Victims don't come forward until they're much older in life," she said, and the extra eight years would have made a difference. Timothy Luckhaupt, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Ohio, said, "There is a statute of limitations in law for a reason. It recognizes that people's memories fade and that witnesses leave, disappear and die." Luckhaupt said his organization had opposed the window but otherwise backs the legislation.
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