Senator Hoylman Pressures Senate to Take Immediate Action on Child Victims Act Following Pennsylvania Grand Jury Revelations

NEW YORK- Senator Brad Hoylman (D/WF-Manhattan) released the following statement in response to a grand jury report out of Pennsylvania that alleges more than 300 clergy members sexually abused more than 1,000 victims over a period of decades.

Senator Hoylman said: “The harrowing revelations out of Pennsylvania demonstrate the scope and pervasiveness of child sexual abuse, and should be interpreted as nothing less than a call to action. Under current law, the majority of sexual abuse cases cannot be prosecuted after five years, aiding and abetting a cycle of future abuse. The only way to ensure justice for survivors is through the passage of the Child Victims Act, which will allow survivors their day in court and hold abusers and institutions at fault accountable. There is no alternative.”

Senator Hoylman’s Child Victims Act (S6575 ) would extend New York’s statutes of limitations for child sexual abuse and create a one-year “look-back window” that permits survivors to initiate claims against their abusers in cases where the statute of limitations has expired. New York’s existing statutes of limitations, considered among the most restrictive in the nation, give survivors only until the age of 23 to file a claim. The legislation is currently stalled in the Senate due to Republican opposition.

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