State legislators vote to extend statute of limitations in child sex abuse cases

By Brittany Comak

Email: bcomak@abc6.com

Twitter: @BComakABC6

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) – Victims of childhood sexual abuse in Rhode Island will now have longer to seek justice for what they’ve endured.

The Rhode Island General Assembly passed legislation Wednesday extending the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse accusations.

The bill, sponsored by Representative Carol McEntee and Senator Donna Nesselbush, extends the statute of limitations for childhood sex abuse claims from seven to 35 years.

 

The legislation passed the Senate Judiciary Committee before being approved in both the Senate and House chambers.

Representative McEntee was emotional as the legislation she fought for with her sister, a sex abuse survivor, passed the House.

“This is Annie’s bill,” said said during the vote. “This is for all the victims that she represents.”

The passage comes after a standoff over the Senate’s version of the bill, which removed language to allow victims seven years to file a civil suit if they remembered abuse later in life, or if they discovered an institution played a role in protecting their abuser.

“It seemed like a chip away at what’s good for victims and I wasn’t going to agree to take it away because any time you shorten any of these years whether it be the statute of limitations or the discovery rule, you take out a whole group of people that then lose their rights,” said Rep. McEntee.

The legislation passed Wednesday extends the statute of limitations and includes the seven year discovery rule.

It also allows for suits against the state and municipalities.

This means right now anyone under 25-years-old can sue their abuser and also an institution.

However for those over 25-years-old, they will only be able to sue their abuser, unless they fall under the discovery rule.

“The ability to come forward under the extension of the statute of limitations law, including the seven year recovery, might provide that motivation to come out from the shadows,” said abuse survivor Jim Scanlan.

As Representative McEntee and her sister, sexual abuse survivor Ann Hagan Webb celebrated  Wednesday, they said they never gave up hope.

“Just knowing that this happened to your sister is just so awful and you feel so helpless because you didn’t know and you couldn’t do anything about it,” said McEntee. “Well, today we did something about it.”

The bill now heads to Governor Gina Raimondo’s desk for final approval.

In a statement she said she’s looking forward to signing it this week.

©WLNE-TV / ABC6 2019