Justice for child sexual abuse survivors has been a long time coming in New York State, but after years of political wrangling, the Child Victims Act will finally tip the scales in favor of innocent victims. For the Jewish community in particular, where many have been afraid to press charges to prevent their reputations from being tarnished while they were dating, the soon to be signed legislation removes the safety net that predators have long relied upon for protection from criminal prosecution.
Passed unanimously by the Senate and by a near unanimous vote in the Assembly on Monday, the bill is expected to be signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo shortly, fulfilling a promise made in his 2019 Justice Agenda to pass the law within the first 100 days of the current legislative session.
Under Child Victims Act, the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution will be extended to age 28 for felony sexual offenses and 25 for misdemeanor sexual offenses, five years longer than under the current law. We know from experience that it can take years for victims of child sexual abuse to come forward and abusers count on that delay to avoid prosecution. Giving victims till their mid to late twenties to press charges against their abusers, taking most past the age of shidduchim and into their early married years when they are more comfortable facing their past, is extremely significant.
Let this be a warning to any potential abusers: the days of being able to use the shidduch factor and youthful indecision as vehicles to escape punishment are over.
While the Child Victims Act will, unfortunately, not apply to those victims who were abused prior to the new law going into effect, it is a giant step in the right direction, paving a path to justice, both for those who will now be able to have their day in court and for those who might, G-d forbid, be molested in the future. Based on Amudim’s own client history, we have seen that until now only 37 percent of our clients were able to press charges against their abusers. The Child Victims Act will allow a full 60 percent of our clients to hold those who violated them accountable for their actions, giving 52 percent more clients closure, a vital step on the road to recovery.
We express our gratitude to the many legislators who supported this bill and agree with Governor Cuomo’s assessment as he declared, “The only sin, I believe, greater than abusing a child would be protecting those who abuse a child.”
Zvi Gluck is the director of Amudim, an organization dedicated to helping abuse victims and those suffering with addiction within the Jewish community and has been heavily involved in crisis intervention and management for the past 19 years. For more information go to www.amudim.org.
Thank you Tzvi for everything you do everyday.
I am Jealous of your reward in Oilam Habah.
You and Rabbi Yakov Horowitz and a few others are saving Klal Yisroel.
But we need to fight even harder, to stop this epidemic entirely
Just looking at with Cumo signed in the past few days should be an indicator as to how much New York State really cares about children.
Enough said…
Don’t mix apples and oranges.
One is about unborn babies which is a religious belief and may be ours, but is still a belief. This is about prevention and protection to children. Your opinion about his other bill does not take away the significance of this bill.
I have a question though, with so much time passing how can someone falsely accused defend himself. Who can remember details after so many years? Also a childs memory can be distorted as far as people and places. How does this law protect people who are wrongfully accused?
In deference to anyone who has been abused, I’d like to clarify that I ask these questions sincerely
The last paragraph is incorrect as far as I know. From what I read online, it says that there will be a one year window to report instances that already reached their statue of limitations.
I’m very pleased with this new law and I hope more peeps will be taken off the streets &/or removed from their positions of power. Sadly, however, I dont think it’ll help before the fact. Someone who preys on kids is so sick I cant imagine hes thinking of being caught and being charged.
Very sad, indeed
I am not a rav. However one must always consult a race before going to authorities in order to prosecute someone. I do not believe that prosecuting someone to “get closure” is a heter to go to authorities. A person who does so is most likely a moiser. A moiser has laws like a rodef….
sounds like you are concerned about being caught
BTW hundreds of Rabbonim have signed to go to Police…
Not a Moiser rather A Tzadik saving Neshomos
A abuser will always abuse. By taking the abuser off the streets you are saving lives.
Every RAV i have spoken to says its a chiyuv to report them. That stats of how many kids are abused are astonishingly high, we must lower these stats.
Also many poskim agree that closure is part of the healing process and many times healing can’t start until abuser is off the street. Abuse is that strong.
There is a video of Rav Elyashiv ztzvk”l saying that one may go to the police to report the abuse. Rabbi Ronnie Greenwald z”l is in the video with his son – I believe that he is the one who asked the question and the answer was clear and unequivocal to report to police. So the person who does report is following halacha to protect a child from a rodef and he is certainly not a moiser.
I’ve heard from numerous poskim that one must go directly to the police in this instance. Furthermore, there is a one year “look back” window for victims to come forward, if they are past the statute of limitations. As far as civil litigation is concerned, the SOL goes to 55.
Statistically, the number of false accusations has been extremely low. Also, most cases of assault aren’t prosecuted. District attorneys historically don’t like to file charges, even in cases of outright rape WITH DNA evidence. So the few cases where there is overwhelming evidence are 99.999% real cases of abuse. Falsely reported cases are so minuscule. This is a good law. I think Mr. Gluck should have disclosed the look back window to us.
Rav CHAIM kanievsky holds the same as seen on a video that there’s no question you go straight to the police. Anyone who hasn’t has only seen his/her victim be protected by people in the community. Please open your eyes there are children and adults suffering from the hands of pure reshaim. If you are in a position to help someone and expose an abuser and you are SILENT or worse protect the abuser and blame the victim, HaShem knows and you are in the category of Iyov by Pharoah. I don’t know if this law will help because many children who have been abused under the age of five only have flashbacks and trauma comes out after the age of 30..I believe the more we expose these criminals in our communities the less it will be done.Please help save Jewish Neshamos.
Rav CHAIM kanievsky holds the same as seen on a video that there’s no question you go straight to the police. Anyone who hasn’t has only seen his/her victim be protected by people in the community. Please open your eyes there are children and adults suffering from the hands of pure reshaim. If you are in a position to help someone and expose an abuser and you are SILENT or worse protect the abuser and blame the victim, HaShem knows and you are in the category of Iyov by Pharoah. I don’t know if this law will help because many children who have been abused under the age of five only have flashbacks and trauma comes out after the age of 30..I believe the more we expose these criminals in our communities the less it will be done.Please help save Jewish Neshamos. It is our only hope.