‘JUSTICE’ GOV
Cuomo introduces bill to aid kid sex vics
ALBANY — With just a week left in the legislative session, Gov. Cuomo on Wednesday introduced for the first time his own Child Victims Act bill.
The bill, obtained by the Daily News, mirrors the one passed by the Assembly last week.
“This is about justice and I urge this measure to be passed before the end of session and allow these victims the ability to hold their abusers accountable — something they’ve wrongly been denied for far too long,” Cuomo said.
The move won praise from many of the victims who have been fighting for the issue for more than a decade.
“I applaud Governor Cuomo’s strong leadership and his commitment to justice and the safety of children,” said Kathryn Robb, who was one of the survivors and advocates who have been working with the governor’s staff in recent months. “He is, to my mind, the justice governor.”
Cuomo’s long-anticipated decision to push a bill now puts the focus on the Senate Republicans, who have for years blocked passage of legislation designed to make it easier for child sex abuse survivors to seek justice.
“The pressure is now on (Senate Majority Leader John) Flanagan to demonstrate that he is on the side of children, not on the side of predators,” said Andrew Willis, founder of the Stop Abuse Campaign.
The Cuomo and Assembly bills would allow survivors to bring civil cases up until their 50th birthdays and felony criminal cases until their 28th birthdays. Currently, they have until their 23rd birthdays to bring such cases.
The bills also include a oneyear window to revive old cases and treats public and private institutions the same. Currently, those abused in a public setting like a school have just 90 days from the incident occurring to formally file an intent to sue.
Cuomo aides said the governor and his staff met repeatedly with advocates and considered the various versions of the Child Victims Act that have been introduced before deciding the Assembly bill represented the best chance for success.
“This is our position,” one Cuomo aide said. “We think it is an important position to take. We hope this will be a tool to engage with the (Independent Democratic Conference) as well as the Senate Republicans and the Assembly to reach consensus.”
There is room, the aide said, to address in negotiations concerns about the potential for frivolous lawsuits that some opponents of the one-year window to revive old cases cite.
A spokesman for the state Catholic Conference, which has opposed the Assembly bill, could not be reached for comment. The Catholic Conference supports measures to address child sexual abuse moving forward but vehemently opposes any bill that includes a window to revive old cases.