According to News 12 Connecticut, a New Canaan man who is a victim of sex abuse is urging lawmakers to push a bill that would eliminate the statute of limitations for child sex crimes.
Mark Fuller, of New Canaan, says he was a 19-year-old student at Notre Dame University when a priest sexually abused him. Fuller’s case was detailed in the massive Pennsylvania grand jury report in 2018.
He says when victims of sexual abuse come forward, they often hit road blocks.
“If it’s been past the statute of limitations, it’s no longer a crime. No harm, no foul. And so, what it does is, bring more depression. Not only was I abused then; I’m getting it again now,” Fuller says.
Victims like Fuller would also get more time to sue their attacker under the Time’s Up Act. It would give child sex abuse victims unlimited time to prosecute, and they can sue until they’re 56 years old.
The bill is now headed to the full state Senate.
According to nationally recognized sex abuse attorney Jeff Herman, “Tougher laws like the New York Child Victims Act are needed to empower survivors, expose predators and deter future crimes. New York recognized a problem and fixed it. Under the Child Victims Act, childhood victims of sexual abuse in New York who did not previously bring a claim by the time they were 23 will now have a one-year window beginning on Aug. 14, 2019 to bring a civil lawsuit.”
If you were sexually abused in New York as a child, you now have the right to bring a claim and be compensated, regardless of how old you are or how long ago it happened. Jeff Herman has 20 years of experience in handling sex abuse cases. He enjoys a reputation for aggressive and tireless advocacy on behalf of his clients, and understands the unique issues involved in the representation of survivors of rape and sexual abuse.
