Is Kansas 'a sanctuary state for predators'? Child sex abuse survivors push legal reform.

Survivors of child sexual abuse and their advocates in the Kansas Legislature have overcome an early hurdle in changing the statute of limitations: getting a bill hearing.

For four years, Sen. Cindy Holscher, D-Overland Park, has been trying to convince her colleagues to take up the issue. That happened Thursday when the Senate Judiciary Committee heard a new version of the proposal, Senate Bill 317.

At a Wednesday news conference, Holscher said it was a compromise with Republican leadership and survivors.

"This bill is basically negotiated language through many parties working together over the past several weeks to come to a consensus and a way to move forward," Holscher said. While it is late in the session, "the expectation is that we do get this addressed and do get this handling this year."

Kansas Senate Bill 95 would change statute of limitations

The initial plan in Senate Bill 95 called for allowing civil claims and criminal charges largely unlimited by how much time has passed. The new plan removes limitations for criminal cases of sexual violence against children, expands the current age limit for civil cases from when the victim turns 21 to 31 and adds a three-year look-back window for civil cases if there is a criminal conviction.

"We are very excited to get to this point, to have a bill hearing and work to move this bill forward," Holscher said. "Getting to this point has been a somewhat arduous journey, and the respect that we have for a survivor group that has been coming almost every week to meet with legislators. The thing that has happened over the past couple of months is they have taken the time to really educate our legislators."

Survivors have often spent session days sitting at a table in the capitol visitors center with information on the proposal since a January news conference advocating for change. At the time, advocates had hoped the release of a Kansas Bureau of Investigation report into child sex abuse by Catholic clergy would spur action, even as they emphasized that child sex abuse isn't unique to the Church.

More:'Hear us,' child sex abuse survivors plead. Will Kansas lawmakers make legal reforms?

"We commend the courage of victim survivors for coming forward and sharing their stories," said Chuck Weber, of the Kansas Catholic Conference, in a statement. "No endeavor is ever perfect or even good enough. Legislation alone will not stop the scourge of child sex abuse, but it appears that SB 317 will provide victim survivors more tools in seeking justice for the abuse that has been inflicted upon them."

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests backed the bill.

"Based on over 30 years of experience, we at SNAP believe that changing antiquated, arbitrary, predator-friendly statutes of limitations in both the criminal and civil arenas is the single most effective thing lawmakers can do to help prevent child sex crimes and cover-ups," the organization said in a statement.

More:Clergy in Kansas aren't mandated reporters of child sex abuse. This bill would change that.

Child sex abuse survivors tell their stories to Kansas lawmakers

Tess Ramirez, now an attorney in Topeka, was sexually assaulted by gymnastics coach David Byrd a decade after Kim Bergman was assaulted. Byrd was treated as first-time offender in Shawnee County District Court, despite there being other victims.

"Sexual predators don't stop after one victim," Ramirez said. "He was prosecuted just for my case. I was No. 11 that we know."

Topekan Earl McIntosh also views legal reform as a way to prevent more children from becoming victims of an abuser who isn't held accountable.

McIntosh was sexually assaulted by a neighbor while growing up in Iola.

"As a 10-year-old, I didn't even know what sex was," he said. "I didn't have a clue what he was doing to me. My innocence was robbed. He threatened to harm me if I told anyone, including my parents and my friends, so I buried this terrifying experience deep inside me."

At 36, he told his wife and parents. In his early 50s, he sought professional counseling.

"I am sad to say the person who sexually assaulted me is still out in the public and has never been held accountable," McIntosh said. "A few years ago, I filed a complaint with the Allen County sheriff in Iola, Kansas. They were unable to act on my complaint because of the amount of time that had elapsed."

McIntosh said his attacker is now involved in a school-based youth mentoring program.

"Sadly, Kansas remains a very safe haven for sexual predators," said Kathryn Robb, executive director of CHILD USAdvocacy and a national expert on statute of limitation reform for child sexual abuse.

Kari Crump, of Junction City, said she was raped in her sleep at 8 years old by her child care provider's husband. Crump is now 45, and she just told her parents two weeks ago about what happened to her.

"As an 8-year-old, when this happens to you, sometimes you don't even have the actual vocabulary to tell other people who are safe what happened to you," she said.

Statute of limitations prevented prosecution in Missouri case

Gisele Shore, of Bucyrus, said her son, Daniel, was sexually abused by Boy Scouts leader Scott Alan Bradshaw. By the time Daniel was ready to talk about what happened, they ran into legal difficulties due to Missouri's statute of limitations. Daniel later died of suicide.

Earlier this month, Bradshaw was sentenced in a Georgia court to 88 years to life in prison.

"For our family, this came 25 years too late," Shore said. "This person should have never been allowed to continue what he did, but because of the statute of limitations that was rejected for my son, Scott was able to continue to abuse boys."

The statute of limitation protects predators, Holscher said.

"We really don't want to be a sanctuary state for predators," she said.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Child sex abuse survivors push to change Kansas statute of limitations