Des Moines, Ia- The Iowa House has approved a bill that removes the time limit for filing criminal charges against people accused of child abuse.
Radio Iowa reports that representative Cherielynn Westrich of Ottumwa said that this law change gives victims a chance to get justice.
“One in five girls and one in 20 little boys are sexually abused,” Westrich said. “How many perpetrators is that, that get away with it? That’s a lot of perpetrators. That’s a lot of children that are being hurt.”
Under current state law, child sex abuse victims must contact authorities before their 33rd birthday to file criminal charges or sue their abuser. The bill only deals with the statute of limitations for criminal charges.
While the bill passed on an 84 to 2, critics argued it’s time to lift the time limit on civil lawsuits as well, so victims can sue institutions that knew about child sex abusers, but did not act to prevent them from targeting other children.
