To: The Pennsylvania State House, The Pennsylvania State Senate, and Governor Tom Wolf
Two-Year Window for Sex Abuse Victims
Give victims of child sexual abuse whose statute of limitations has expired their day in court. We know for a fact that victims don't deal with this until later in life. We should never protect the perpetrator, but here in Pennsylvania, we do. Help me expose all sexual predators. As a victim myself, I will never turn my back on the children of Pennsylvania.
Why is this important?
Sex abuse victims deserve their day in court but the laws here in PA strongly favor the perpetrator. Statistics show that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys are victims of sexual abuse. There is legislation currently in front of the Pennsylvania legislature (House and Senate) which would suspend the statute of limitations for sexual abuse, but leadership is not allowing the bills to run.
Unfortunately the statute of limitations for many victims of past abuse expired only a few years after they turned 18. The current law gives a victim 12 years past their 18th birthday to expose their perpetrator but this still in most cases is not enough time. Most victims struggle with their abuse until they are 40, 50, 60 some even older.
Many states have realized the seriousness of this matter and how difficult it is to come forward and have completely eliminated the statute as it relates to sexual abuse just like there is no statute for murder. California, Delaware, Hawaii and Minnesota have all opened up Two-Year Window bills and exposed thousands of perpetrators and helped keep thousands more children safe.
Help us protect future generations of children by identifying perpetrators still roaming our streets.