Boggs: Lift law caps in cases of rape, assault
A jury ordered a Delaware County church to pay Jessica Simpkins $3.6 million for allowing a senior pastor there to rape her in 2008 when she was 15, but the verdict didn’t last long.
Two years ago, the Ohio Supreme Court upheld lower court rulings that slashed the award to $500,000 under Ohio’s 13-year-old law cap for non-economic damages.
By coming forward, Simpkins likely spared other children from becoming victims of Brian Williams, who was senior pastor at Sunbury Grace Brethren Church and was convicted of two counts of sexual battery, said Rep. Kristin Boggs, D-Columbus. “She potentially saved many, but our justice system severely failed her.”
So Boggs urged the House Government Oversight Committee on Wednesday to pass her House Bill 20, which would exempt from Ohio’s tort reform caps cases of rape, felonious assault, aggravated assault, assault or negligent assault.
The jury granted the award, Boggs said, after hearing evidence that church leaders knew of prior incidents involving Williams and prioritized “protecting their brother” over child safety.
“I believe there is a special place in hell for a person who would rape a child, and I also believe there is a seat next to that person for any adults who choose to protect rapists instead of choosing to protect children,” Boggs told the committee.
The jury award was capped by a law that, Boggs said, likely never “contemplated the injustice it would be serving to victims like Jessica.”
Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, who played a key role in writing Ohio’s 2005 tort reform law, said that in a case of sexual assault, the cap on damages does not apply to the perpetrator — he could be ordered to pay without limit.
But Boggs said that when an organization looks the other way “while children have been severely abused, and they did so because they can calculate their limited liability … lifting the cap on damages for claims of rape and sexual battery is completely appropriate.”
Seitz disagreed, expressing concern that this would be slippery slope — chipping away at the cap for cases Boggs of rape and sexual battery today, while “next year, they’ll have a new definition of worst of the worst.”
“Somebody’s got to be able to put the brakes on this,” he said.
Sean Harris of Worthington, president of the Ohio Association for Justice, which represents trial lawyers, said a victim can sue her rapist, but he most likely won’t have sufficient assets to satisfy a judgment.
“We’re talking about the worst behavior. This is an example of an Ohio law protecting rapists and those who harbor rapists and look the other way from being held accountable.”
Rep. Bill Blessing, R-Cincinnati, chairman of the committee, said it’s unlikely the GOP caucus would support a full removal of the caps in these cases. “I don’t know if there’s support for raising the cap.”
The current legislative session ends in mid-December, but Boggs said she will reintroduce the bill next year. Rep. Anne Gonzales, R-Westerville, is jointly sponsoring the bill, but did not attend the hearing Wednesday.