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REMARKS OF DISTRICT
ATTORNEY DANIEL F. CONLEY
State House Hearing on Elimination of Statute of
Limitations for Child Sexual Assaults
March 14, 2006
Good afternoon. I thank the Committee for allowing
me the opportunity to say a few words in support of
eliminating the statute of limitations on the crime
of child rape.
I became district attorney of Suffolk County a
little over four years ago – just as the full
magnitude of the clergy abuse scandal was coming to
light. Throughout the rest of that year – 2002 – and
continuing throughout the two years that followed,
my office was referred dozens upon dozens of
allegations of sexual assaults committed by members
of the clergy against children.
Save for a very few cases, we could not bring
prosecutions against most of the alleged abusers –
even when the evidence supported the victims’
allegations – because the crime had occurred so long
prior to us learning about it that the statue of
limitations had expired.
It was a time when several important factors came
together. We had an Archdiocese that, at long last,
after decades of shameful neglect, had finally
turned over the allegations by child victims to
prosecutors. We had victims who, after years of
dealing with their pain and suffering in silence and
in shadows, summoned the courage to come forward and
bear true witness to the horrors inflicted on them.
And we had a ready, willing and very able team of
prosecutors, investigators and victim advocates
ready to prosecute the abusers identified in decades
of internal Archdiocesan reports.
In short, we had a city, and a judicial system,
resolved to shine a light on these dark acts and
haul these predators into a criminal court for their
day of reckoning.
The only thing we did not have, for the vast
majority of these cases, was the time standard
necessary to seek justice for the victimized. If the
statute of limitations did not exist for crimes of
child rape, we could have done just that. That’s why
months into my tenure as district attorney, my first
policy decision was to file legislation calling for
the elimination of the statute of limitations in
child rape cases. It is a battle I still proudly
fight as I sit before you today.
Currently, the statute of limitations for crimes of
rape against a child, or assault with intent to rape
a child, is 15 years. Eliminating the statute of
limitations on serious sexual crimes against
children is morally imperative.
All of is in this room today know that when an
adult rapes a child, the only person who need feel
shame is the perpetrator. Unfortunately, because of
the nature of the crime and the stigma that has been
unfairly attached to sex crimes throughout the
history of criminal justice, it’s often the other
party – the victim, the child – who feels shamed by
these acts. That fact is not lost on the predator,
either. Those who sexually abuse children and
teenagers often seem to count on these feelings of
shame to coerce children and teenagers into silence.
As I have noted in prior testimony in this
building, it is important to remember that the
reason the law imposes no statute of limitations on
murder is because the nature of the crime silences
victims permanently. With everything we’ve learned
about sexual abuse, it’s not unreasonable to point
out these are victims who are also silenced by the
stigma and trauma attached.
We know that children and teenagers who are
sexually abused are terribly damaged by the
experience. The crime changes everyone who suffers
it, often for the rest of their lives. It takes
different children vastly different amounts of time
to deal with their own abuse, and still more time to
summon the courage to come forward. Many do not
reach that point until adulthood, when maturity and
life experience show them they are not the ones who
should be ashamed, that silence is not necessary,
and that they do indeed deserve justice.
Unlike murder, rape of a child may leave the body
alive. But you’d be hard pressed to argue that it
doesn’t kill something in that child. It kills hope.
This committee can restore it.
No victim should be prohibited from having his or
her day in court merely because the clock ran out.
Not just in a civil court, where monetary damages
are awarded – although those certainly have their
due place in our system – but in a criminal court,
where redress of different sort is found.
This honorable body, and the Legislature of which
you are all a part, can make sure that all child
rape victims get that most basic right to seek
justice before the law, to have their voices heard,
in a place where crimes are punished and lawbreakers
held accountable.
Naturally, if passed, this legislation will not be
retroactive, so any cases that presently fall
outside the statute of limitations would remain
time-barred. The torrent of clergy abuse cases that
poured into my office has slowed to a sporadic
trickle, but clergy abuse cases represent just one
small slice of the overall volume of child rape
cases my office investigates and prosecutes. My
office’s Child Abuse Unit reviews close to 1,000
cases per year, and many of those involve sexual
assault. The strength of this bill is that it would
correct a flaw in the system going forward. Cases
that are currently 13 or 14 years into the 15-year
statute of limitations would be covered and remain
open, and any future cases would have no statute of
limitations attached. Essentially then, this bill,
if enacted quickly, would protect any cases that are
currently viable, improve the system going forward,
and send a positive and hopeful message to victims.
This bill would also continue a positive trend in
this state that has seen the steady extension of the
statute of limitations involving rape. Between 1985
and 1996, the Legislature, in its wisdom, extended
the statute of limitations from 6 years to 15
years. And in cases involving children, the
Legislature changed the law so that the clock
wouldn’t start on the statute of limitations until
the child turned 16 years old.
Several other states have no statute of limitations
for sex crimes against children. Massachusetts –
always a leader in victims’ rights – must join that
group.
The powerful and courageous voices of victims that
were heard in the wake of the clergy abuse scandal
have contributed to an evolution that began decades
ago in the way society generally understands and
perceives cases of sexual abuse against children.
They might even be viewed as a catalyst for this
legislation. But the fact is that despite efforts
in the criminal justice system, in the Legislature,
in the media and among community activist leaders
over the past 20 or so years to be more sensitive
and understanding, victims of sexual crimes –
children and adults alike - have still felt shamed
and stigmatized by abuse and they have suffered in
silence.
It’s clear to me that while perceptions have
changed significantly and continue to move in the
right direction, the laws need to change as well.
With your support, this legislation will go a long
way to help remove the burden of shame and silence,
allow victims to cope and come forward and give
victims that most basic and desirable protection of
our criminal justice system: equal protection before
the law.
I urge your support of this effort to eliminate the
statue of limitations in crimes of sexual assault
against children.
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