Gaughran Chides Marcellino For Voting Against Child Victims Act

(Huntington, NY) Jim Gaughran today slammed Senator Carl Marcellino for voting against the Child Victims Act. This initiative would provide child sex abuse victims the opportunity to hold their abusers accountable for their crimes against defenseless children.

“Elected officials should protect our state’s most vulnerable residents and fight for the cause of justice,” Jim Gaughran said. “Senator Marcellino, when given the chance to help the victims of child abuse seek justice, instead chose to protect the abusers and perpetrators of these heinous crimes. Carl Marcellino should be ashamed of himself for his actions. I will fight to pass this common sense legislation because it is the right thing to do.”

If passed into law, the Child Victims Act would have:
· Eliminated the criminal statute of limitations for several child sexual abuse crimes;
· Eliminated the civil statute of limitations for all causes of action brought by a person seeking redress for physical, psychological or other injury caused by child sexual abuse;
· Created a one year window, starting from the effective date of the bill, for past victims of child sexual abuse to initiate lawsuits against their abusers;
· Applied the eliminated civil statute of limitations to public institutions, in addition to private institutions; and
· Created parity in how regulations impact public and private institutions under these circumstances.