How long should the statute of limitations be on child sexual assault?

[The Straight Story]

Statement from Kevin Quinn, Senior Vice President for Public Affairs, Syracuse University
November 17, 2011

Kevin C. Quinn
[phone]

“In light of the new allegations and the Syracuse City Police investigation, this evening Chancellor Cantor asked Director of Athletics Dr. Daryl Gross, to place Associate Head Coach Bernie Fine on administrative leave.”

Previous statement:

“In 2005, Syracuse University was contacted by an adult male who told us that he had reported to the Syracuse City Police that he had been subjected to inappropriate contact by an associate men’s basketball coach. The alleged activity took place in the 1980’s and 1990’s. We were informed by the complainant that the Syracuse City Police had declined to pursue the matter because the statute of limitations had expired.

“On hearing of the allegations in 2005, the University immediately launched its own comprehensive investigation through its legal counsel. That nearly four-month long investigation included a number of interviews with people the complainant said would support his claims. All of those identified by the complainant denied any knowledge of wrongful conduct by the associate coach. The associate coach also vehemently denied the allegations.

“Syracuse University takes any allegation of this sort extremely seriously and has zero tolerance for abuse of any kind. If any evidence or corroboration of the allegations had surfaced, we would have terminated the associate coach and reported it to the police immediately. We understand that the Syracuse City Police has now reopened the case, and Syracuse University will cooperate fully. We are steadfastly committed to ensuring that SU remains a safe place for every member of our campus community.”

http://www.syr.edu/news/articles/2011/statement-11-17.html

In Ohio:
Currently, the SOL in Ohio for Rape/child sexual assault is 20 years.

http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67082

[in_cog_ni_to]

1. There should be no statute of limitations on child sexual assault.

It oftentimes mentally destroys children. It can take a lifetime to come forward.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

2. +1 n/t

[GodlessBiker]

3. Indeed, like there is no SOL for murder.

[Spazito]

4. Totally agree

+1

[The Straight Story]

6. I can grok that, but by legal definitions - suppose you were 18, they were 17

and decide today that they were molested and not consenting?

I get what you are saying, was molested myself and that lives with you for a lifetime. But what limits, if any, do you think there should be (some laws I have heard say if the age difference is less than 3 years it is not molestation/assault/etc)?

[OhioBlue]

10. I get what you are saying...

Personally - I don't think there should be any SOL on molestation and sexual abuse.

I agree with you - that there should be regulations - if one is 18 and another is 17... and both are consenting - that does not equal molestation or assault. I think the age difference is dependent upon the age. 3 years age difference makes sense when one is 20 and one is 17... not so much if one is 16 and the other 13... then I think it becomes a little dicey... I'm just thinking a 17 yr old could be a HS graduate with a boyfriend/girlfriend that is a few years older.. not a big deal at all.... but a HS JR with a divers' license picking up Jr. High kids... well.. that could be another story. It is all so specific to each individual case...

[Greybnk48]

8. ++1 n/t

[JPZenger]

5. 30 years old?

I heard a commentator talk about that issue on the news. She said that it is necessary to give a person time to come to terms with what happened - which requires some maturity. I think it shouldn't be a set number of years, but instead be until the victim reaches age 30. This needs to be balanced with the fact that it is also hard for someone to properly defend themselves 20 years after the fact - when records are gone, witnesses are dead, and memories are failing.

In addition, remember that there were a bunch of hack therapists a few years ago convincing everyone through "repressed memory therapy" that all of their problems must have been caused by long-forgotten sexual abuse.

[Lady President]

9. Agree about basing it on the age of majority

The link in the original post has Ohio civil law which states the SOL expires when the plaintiff reaches 30 y.o. (age of majority, plus 12 years).

I don't like the Ohio criminal code as well though. The first part is the age of majority, plus 20 yrs. which makes sense. Or, 20 yrs. from the time a social services agency or police office knew, suspected, or believed the abuse occurred. Social services agencies are so under-staffed that I don't think it's fair to the agency or victim to start the SOL when a social worker "suspected" the abuse occurred. This standard feels a little loose to me.

[BillyJack]

7. No limit

It affects the victim their whole life. The perp should be subject to nothing less than being held accountable for the rest of their life.

That is fair.

Perps burning in h*ll for eternity....another subject for another day....but, yeah