Law grossly inadequate to stop abusers, help victims

While most of America was in shock over allegations against music icons Michael Jackson and R. Kelly, many Arizonans are unaware that measures to prevent similar abuse are being met with unqualified opposition in our state.

Senate Bill 1255, which was blocked in the Arizona Senate, would create a civil window for survivors of childhood sexual abuse to sue their perpetrators within the latter of seven years from either turning age 18, or from first reporting the abuse to licensed medical or mental health professionals.

The current law provides that survivors have until age 20 to seek civil justice.

As a survivor of a serial pedophile, I can attest that the current law is grossly inadequate, does nothing to expose predators, does nothing to protect children, and does not bring appropriate relief to adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

In 1975, over a three-night period, my brother and I were molested by a lifelong family friend, who later became a powerful judge in the state of Delaware.

While my brother and I were happy, well-adjusted children prior to the abuse, our lives immediately started spiraling downward afterward.

Despite receiving the best psychiatric care at the time, neither of us spoke about the abuse until we were adults. We both experienced issues with trust, intimacy, and aggression, which are fairly common byproducts of having a 350-pound man forcibly assaulting boys against their will.

When I first disclosed the abuse to my parents at age 20, not only was there no legal remedy available to me, but also no encouragement from them to make my abuse known publicly.

Most survivors face the same barriers to reporting, which is why so few come forward, and generally only after many decades have passed. When they do, they often find that there is no legal remedy, and little to no support from family, due to the fear of public embarrassment.

More than 15 years later, as a husband and father of two small children, and after my brother confirmed his years of abuse by the judge, I filed a non-monetary complaint with the Delaware Court on the Judiciary.

After a thorough investigation of our allegations, my complaint was dismissed, because my abuse took place before the judge took office, and because my brother was not willing to make his accusations or name public.

In July 2007, Delaware passed the Child Victims Act, providing a two-year window for civil complaints for survivors of childhood sexual abuse, and I was able to achieve my goal of having the judge admit that he abused me.

Initially, no attorney would take my case, and no media outlet would report on my suit.

Thanks to the courage of a dozen or more survivors of the judge, who were willing to testify against him without financial benefit, he finally admitted to the abuse, resigned from the bench, and was disbarred as an attorney.

None of this would have been possible without the Delaware Child Victims Act. The senators blocking Senate Bill 1255 need to know this.

Sadly, my brother took his life in 2018, after years of horrific childhood abuse in New York, and just months before New York passed a Child Victims Act.