Seek balance in extending statute
of limitations for abuse

A recent column (2/28) discussed a legislative proposal to add clergy to the list of mandatory reporters under Wisconsin's laws governing child abuse and neglect. This column addresses the statute of limitations for criminal and civil actions against perpetrators of such abuse.

Statutes of limitations provide that a criminal prosecution or civil lawsuit must occur within a specified time period after the crime is committed or the injury caused.

These time limits exist to ensure that prosecution of criminals and civil litigation occur in a timely way to improve the chances that justice is done.

The crime of murder has no such limitation, thus a person may be charged and tried for murder at any time, even if decades have passed since the crime. Certain crimes against children may be prosecuted up until the victim reaches the age of 26 or 31, depending upon the seriousness of the offense. Most other felonies must be prosecuted within six years of the offense.

Because the burden of proof in civil trials is lower than in criminal cases, the statute of limitations for most civil offenses is much shorter -- usually two or three years from the time the injured party becomes aware of the injury. However, as in criminal cases, the statute runs a bit longer when the victim is a child.

In Wisconsin, a child who is injured may bring a lawsuit up until three years after becoming an adult, that is, prior to his or her 21st birthday.

Legislators and others want to extend these limitations for crimes and civil suits related to sexual assault of children. There is discussion of allowing criminal prosecution of child abusers up until the victim turns 35 years of age.

As for civil lawsuits, some want to allow children who suffered abuse as a minor to bring a lawsuit up to age 26, thus giving such children five additional years to hold the person or persons who injured them accountable.

Still others want to go farther and permit lawsuits up to five years after the victim discovers the fact of his or her injury even if this discovery occurs decades after the incident.

There is good reason to give victims of abuse more time to come forward. Even though they may know they were abused, talking about it can be traumatic. This is especially true for teenagers who are self-conscious about their sexuality even when they don't suffer abuse.

As society gleans a better understanding of these issues, there is growing recognition that the current statute of limitations for civil suits by child victims may need to extend beyond three years after reaching adulthood. Thus the Wisconsin Catholic Conference supports raising the limit for such suits until the victim reaches 26 years of age.

At the same time, any statute of limitations must maintain a balance between the rights of accusers and the accused. Finding the truth becomes more difficult as time passes. Key physical evidence can be lost and personal recollections fade. Sometimes the accused or key witnesses are dead.

For these reasons, the WCC opposes the open-ended approach of allowing suits for five years after an injury is discovered, regardless of the age of the victim at the time of discovery.

Striking a balance that offers those who have been hurt an opportunity to seek justice and protecting innocent parties from accusations that are hard to disprove will be a difficult task. We can be hopeful that people of good will find a way to strike that balance.

(Huebscher is executive director of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, the civil arm of the state's five diocesan bishops. Its website is www.wisconsincatholic.org.)