-
District Attorney Daniel F. Conley:
"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."
-
Psychologist Ann Webb:
"The
children of Massachusetts deserve nothing less than
“zero tolerance” of sexual abuse. The sexual
predators of Massachusetts are hoping you’ll stop
these bills here. Only you can choose who you will
champion, children or predators. The choice
should be crystal clear."
-
Legal Advocate Wendy Murphy:
"Child
rapists may find comfort in the fact that they can
walk away scot-free after an arbitrary time period
ends, but we have to be honest about the fact that
there is no constitutional interest at stake and
moreover -- it's poor public policy to send a
message to child rapists that they can someday stop
looking over their shoulders."
-
Child Advocate Jetta Bernier:
"Members of the Judiciary Committee: The arguments in
support of SOL repeal are clear and convincing. Your
choice must be children over their offenders - legal
accountability over legal loopholes. We urge you
today to exert your power on behalf of powerless
children. Close the SOL justice gap - for good."
-
Social Worker Jeffrey Bradley:
"Eliminating
the statue of limitations allows for successful
prosecution and potentially puts a limit on the
degree of impact it has on the individual, the
family of the survivor, and the community at large."
-
Psychologist Dan Brown
"A
total of 89 scientific research studies (about
two-thirds of which have been peer reviewed) have
been conducted since 1989 specifically on the issue
of substantial forgetting and subsequent recovered
of memories of childhood sexual abuse. All 89
studies show that a clinically significant group of
victims of childhood sexual abuse will completely or
partially forget the abuse for decades and later
recover the sexual abuse memories after an extended
period of forgetting."
-
State Representative Mary Grant:
"Given what we have
learned professionally over the last thirty years
regarding the prevalence and the damage of sexual
assault and abuse, I do not believe the current
statute of limitations protects our society from
perpetrators of this crime."
-
Attorney General Tom Reilly:
"The
nature of these crimes – and of their perpetrators –
make it appropriate to...eliminate the statute of
limitations altogether for these crimes. Not
only do psychological studies consistently confirm
that victims of sexual abuse often repress the
memories of their abuse resulting in delayed
reporting of the crime; there is overwhelming
evidence that the perpetrators of these crimes have
a high risk of recidivism."
