Reporting & Statutes of Limitation

In many states, there is no Statute of Limitation [SOL] on Childhood Sexual Assault [CSA]. In fact, a few states don't have SOL for any sexual assault, and some states don't have any SOL for any felonies, period!

Every state is different, and the framers made that possible on purpose. In WA, we have a 3 year SOL on almost everything. Right or wrong, that's the way it is right now.

Nothing says we can't work to change that, however.

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Surprisingly, Victim Advocates in WA are not in support of removing the SOL from CSA. Very few groups are in support of it, in fact. Wash-CAP thinks that it wouldn't be a bad thing, but that it's not a total fix for victims of CSA.

To get that opinion, we interviewed researchers at UW, victims, and prosecutors. If anyone wants more details, email me.

So, we came up with a compromise, and have started working on consensus for it:

When we came up with the idea, we were discussing what specific issues victims need addressed. We determined that victims may need

• to know that they’re not ‘allowing’ the predator to commit more crimes due to their lack of reporting,
• to know that they’ve sought justice for themselves, and
• to speak out against their abuser

We’re not victim’s advocates, so that list may not have the proper terminology or be a complete list. However, it did allow us to come up with the proposed compromise:

1. SOL be extended to 25 y/o for all felony CSA.
   This is for the following reasons:
   >The majority of abuse takes place within the home, and in the majority of cases the abuser is in direct control of the child and is also the person paying for the child’s car, college, etc.
   >The extension allows the child time to find therapy [free therapy in college without risk of mandatory reporting], complete college/trade school, and establish financial and social independence from the abusive environment.


2. Victims would be able to submit affidavits detailing the facts of the abuse as they remember it. Those affidavits would
   >Be held by law enforcement
   >Be “searchable” by law enforcement [databased]
   >Be admissible in court
   >Have no SOL


3. The accused would be notified of the affidavit and would be able to provide a response.

We leave it to the wisdom of the legislature as to whether these affidavits would be accessible to the public. Perhaps the facts of the affidavit, but not the identifying information.

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We're open to suggestions and opinions.

Two cents: creating an environment conducive to reporting.

When I started working on this project [CAP], I knew not to use stranger danger, and I knew why, but I made a lot of other mistakes. Sometimes I still think certain things, briefly, without saying them out loud, and sometimes I hear things from others.

Things like, "That person is just evil/a monster," or, "If anyone ever hurt my child like that, I/my husband would kill them!"

Here's the point of the post:

Whether or not evil exists is a fascinating conversation. The existance of this type of abuse, and the extremes to which it can be carried, may indicate the existance of evil; I don't know. But child abusers themselves are not evil. They're sick, they're twisted, they have chemical imbalances coupled with weak characters and poor impulse control... but they're not evil.

When we call them 'evil' or [to a lesser extent] 'monsters', we're creating a mystery around them and making them seem even scarier than they are. When a child hears a parent talking about abusers that way, the kid is thinking that, no matter what the parent says, there's not a thing mom or dad can do about the evil guy, that you're not big enough or mean enough to deal with monsters. There's a good chance that the child is going to try and protect his/her parents from the evil monsters by not telling the parent what's happening.

The same thing holds true for statements involving 'killing' those who abuse our kids. Personally, I think my head might explode from wanting to, but I've learned not to say it because - as one of my children pointed out to me [ouch] - if I kill that person, then I'll be in jail, and they won't have me as a parent.

The unifying theme to both these points: The reality of child abuse is so overwhelmingly and explosively emotional that neutral and calm language is necessary in order to help ensure that the facts get shared. If the worst happens and a child is abused or assaulted, the child needs to know that the parent/trusted adult is able to safeguard them from more harm, and to handle the information without getting arrested. Otherwise, they may be more willing to tolerate further abuse than to potentially worsen the situation by having their parents in danger or in jail. Sounds horrific, but it's not uncommon.

Increased Penalty Zones

The Washington State PTA had their Legislative Assembly on October 3/4. During the Legislative Assembly, representatives from schools all over the state came to SeaTac to learn about and debate the issues under consideration for PTA support in the upcoming WA Legislative Session.

14 issues were presented for consideration, and 12 were kept on the ballot. The top 5 priority issues were based on education reform. Increased Penalty Zones came in at number six as a priority in PTA schools across the state!

It's great to know that the PTA, representing many thousand members state-wide, is supporting our efforts at Wash-CAP.

If you're a member of the PTA, you can contact your local legislators and let them know that the PTA supports Increased Penalty Zones, as described on our Projects page.