HB 771, Civil practice: statute of limitations for actions for childhood sexual abuse; extend

Brittany Martin, Steven Miller, Brandi Pray, & Jenny Teasley

Problem Definition
Current law states that victims of childhood sexual abuse have until 5 years after they turn the age of majority to sue their abuser. The current age of majority is understood to be 16-years old, which gives victims until their 21st birthday. If a victim comes forward later in life, they are not legally able to sue their abuser in Georgia. There is currently no time limitation on suing their abusers employer.

Problem Definition (cont.) Important Definitions

Child Protective Services defines childhood sexual abuse as occurring when a child under the age of 18 is used for the sexual gratification of a parent or other adult. Substantiated Case- accusation is found to be supported by state policy or law Unsubstantiated Case- investigation lacked the evidence necessary to warrant a sufficient conclusion

Problem Definition (cont.) Victims

80,000+ substantiated child sexual abuse cases in the U.S. annually Every 14 minutes, there is a report of child abuse in GA (38,578) and 5.1% of these claims are of sexual abuse (1,967) Of all the cases reported in 2013, only 4-8% of these were found to be fabricated (untrue) and these cases were typically made up by adults in child custody battles Child victims are almost equal boys vs. girls, but girls outnumber boys in statistics by 1-2% due to unreported boy cases African Americans, Native Americans, & mixed descent children have higher rates of being victimized sexually

Problem Definition (cont.) Perpetrators

80.3% of perpetrators are parents, 6.1% other relatives, 4.2% are unmarried partners of parents, 4.6% have some other relationship to the victim (babysitter, teacher, etc.), & 3.1% typically do not know the victim previous to the molestation

Employers of the Abused

Ongoing debate about timeframe appropriate to sue the employer (30 years later, 10 years later?) Ex. Catholic Church & Penn State

Legislative Process
This bill was assigned to the Judiciary non-civil committee with Representative Rich Golick from the 40th district who serves as the Chairman. He also was one of the sponsors who signed onto this bill with Representative Jason Spencer. Golick sent it to a subcommittee who favorably reported it on February 26th. Jan/17/2014 House Hopper Jan/21/2014 House First Readers Jan/22/2014 House Second Readers Feb/26/2014 - House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute Mar/3/2014 Was unable to cross over for a floor vote

Amendment to Existing Law

House bill 771 was an attempt to amend Chapter 3 of Title 9 of the O.C.G.A. The current Act, code 9-3- 33.1 in the (b) clause, states, (b) Any civil action for recovery of damages suffered as a result of childhood sexual abuse shall be commenced within five years of the date the plaintiff attains the age of majority (O.C.G.A., 2014, 9-3- 33.1).

What Would HB 771 Change?

Its original purpose was to expand the statute of limitations for actions for childhood sexual abuse five years after the age of 18 years of age. The current limitation is five years after the age of majority (16 years old) Substitutions were made to the original bill to extend it for ten years past 18 years of age and there was a 5-year limit added for a victim to sue a third party

Representative Jason Spencer

Jason spencer suggested the bill. The bill was Substituted Southern Baptist Church supported Bill Catholic Church Against the bill Bill 771 never made it to cross over day More advocates needed to sway Committee Attach bill to Renee Underman (Bill 917) Bill died Vowed to bring in the big guns next year

Mary Margaret Oliver State House Representative 82 Committees: Appropriations, Judiciary, Government Affairs, Juvenile Justice and Science and Technology Interview date: February 18th (23rd Legislative Day) Chief of Staff: Carol Stern

Significant points of discussion: * Optimism of the passing of 771 * Lack of Ambiguity (statute of limitation) * Short Legislative Session * Inclement winter weather effect on House schedule * More Controversial Issues taking longer to be heard (Gun Control)

Personal Reflections