Sometimes incremental steps are better than no steps at all.
An Indiana Senate committee has voted unanimously for a bill that would extend the statute of limitations on crimes such as child molesting, sexual misconduct with a minor and incest if certain conditions are met.
Current law only allows prosecution for such crimes until a victim reaches the age of 31. The proposed change, which now goes to the full Senate, would allow for an additional five years after authorities obtain new evidence such as DNA, video or photographic images or an attacker’s confession. It should be noted that in 2015, legislators passed a law allowing the same extra time for rape charges to be filed.
This bill, if passed, would be a positive development for young victims of sex crimes. But it’s important to note that the original bill went further. It would have eliminated all time limits for charges to be filed.
There is a compelling case to be made that time limits on sex abuse crimes involving children should not exist at all. Many victims of child sexual abuse and their advocates have lobbied lawmakers to do away with time limits. They have been encouraged by the response they have received, even though they’ve not succeeded in their ultimate goal.
According to a story from the Associated Press, Tracey Krueger of the Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking said the group believed the time limit should be eliminated but that the extended time was a step forward. The state prosecutors association said the additional time would let police pursue investigations in abuse cases and seek the needed evidence.
The challenge facing law enforcement and the criminal justice system is that victims of child sexual abuse often wait years, even decades, before they are able talk to anyone about their experiences. Each victim deals with the trauma in their own way. Any time limit on prosecuting crimes committed against them when they were children seems arbitrary and unreasonable.
Someone accused of sex crimes against children many years later has maintained the advantage in defending themselves because of time limitation laws.
Even the proposed change in the law being considered favors the accused.
Still, this proposal gives victims and prosecutors new powers and opportunities that do not now exist.
We urge lawmakers in both chambers, and the governor, to move this bill into law.
