WHERE WE ARE:
Efforts by groups interested in changing laws surrounding abuse have been used since 1989 with varying results on a state by state basis. The following terms are the most commonly used in efforts today in identifying pedophiles and abusers to local law enforcement individuals.
1. Window Periods – This enables a “window” consisting of a 1-3 year period in which victims of assault can come forward identifying their attackers and bringing action in civil suits against those individuals after the criminal Statute of Limitations have expired. The following states have enabled individuals to come forward over a time period from the late 1980’s till the mid 2000’s.
a. Minnesota, California and Delaware.
i. Minnesota in the late 80’s.
ii. California identified 300 pedophiles through 1000 suits filed during the mid 2000’s using this law. Approx 300 were filed against clergy of the Catholic Church while the majority (700) were filed against individuals having nothing to do with a public organization. Many times people think they were the only one abused by an individual. Pedophiles typically have 112-113 victims over a lifetime ranging over decades.
iii. Delaware had some success during their window period.
b. Activists in Ohio and Colorado tried to have window periods passed but were beaten out by lobbyists from the Catholic Church and insurance industries. What the Catholic Church and Insurance industry has successfully done is protect pedophiles and prevent the bigger majority of sex abuse victims/survivors from publicizing the names of those guilty of criminal sexual assault. The Pope in statements over the past couple of months has continued to show his refusal to take charge of his “ship” the Catholic Church and step up where they are concerned in this issue.
c. The Window Periods weren’t well publicized. I was in Minnesota when their window period was happening but had not had full memories of my abuse and never heard about it.
2. Discovery Laws – with approximately half the states having these laws this is an effort by activists to extend the statute of limitations beyond current lengths by starting the clock when a victim/survivor “discovers” that interpersonal problems were caused by the abuse they suffered in their childhood. (more than half the states use these but these usually only extend to 1-2 years after discovery)
3. OK/TX/LA/SC – Have instituted the death penalty for first time or multiple rapes of a child.
4. GPS tracking – 28 states. (Jessica’s Law)
5. Megan’s Law/Pedophile Free Zones/ Sex offender Registry’s – all states participate in these. They identify very few of the actual pedophiles in our neighborhoods.
6. A hand full of states have also changed their statutes to make sexual assault of children a felony that has no statute of limitations (KY).
7. Some states have started to add a few years to the age of 18. Still a problem when many times memories don’t surface until adult hood. Sometimes decades.
What becomes apparent from reading the preceding is that laws assisting victims and survivors of assault are sporadic and that despite massive efforts by victims advocates lobbying for Window Periods that the success rate has been dismal at best.
Where is the greatest opposition for sweeping law passage coming from?
1. The insurance industry – spent 1.36 billion on lobbying efforts for all of their interests (not just anti-window legislation) over a 10 year period at the same time they were earning 1.3 Trillion in income on a YEARLY basis.
2. Catholic Church – their arguments:
a. It will bankrupt us – their settlements (50/50 with the insurance companies) have come from the sale of unused office buildings, parking lots and parcels of land that have zero affect on their parishes.
b. We will have to close down parishes. (They rearrange parishes constantly due to changing demographics and movement)
c. It will reduce our charitable contributions to the surrounding community – they get 70-90% of their charity money from our tax dollars not contributions.
d. They have a formidable voting block (64 million members).
e. We have counseling programs in place and don’t need any further legislation – true but only for victims of the Catholic Church. We all know that a vast majority of survivors are not part of the Catholic Church and have this option closed to them.
3. Teachers Unions – they grandfather current teachers for background checks. They have conflicting agendas. When it comes down to either preserving jobs or protecting children they protect jobs.
4. Lawyers – the lawyers who represent these entities will fight tooth and nail to prevent Window Period legislation from ever seeing the light of day.
5. Boy Scouts – their greatest cry is that exposing pedophiles will lead to lawsuits which will bankrupt their organization. Recent judgments against them reveal the same cloak of secrecy that the Catholic church has used in moving pedophile priests from parish to parish in order to protect their identities.
6. Mormons, Southern Baptists, Seventh Day Adventists, etc. etc – every organization that deal with children or has children in it also has pedophiles waiting and watching.
7. ACLU – when it comes to them protecting the rights of children as opposed to the rights of adults, the adults win.
What is really needed most?
1. IDENTIFY IDENTIFY IDENTIFY – The places where our children are supposed to be safest is where they are being assaulted at the highest rates (home, school and church). The measures that have been put in place (Megan’s Law, Offender lists, etc. identify only a very small number of offenders). There is a far higher percentage that are never brought to light because of the limits that laws put on victims to come forward. These measures are the tip of an ice berg that remains unseen for the most part below water.
2. Pedophiles know that victims won’t come forward in the Statute of Limitations time when they can be prosecuted allowing them to re-victimize over and over.
3. Many times victims don’t have full memories of their assaults until well into adulthood, long after the statute of limitations have expired.
4. The constitutional aspect of prosecuting past the statute of limitations has been tested and has failed in the courts. The only other option is through civil actions. Except for three states (DE, ME and AK), when the criminal statute of limitations ends so do the civil SOL’s.
