Even though majority of voters support the Child Victims Act, the bill still remains stalled in Albany. An overwhelming 90% of voters are in support of the “look back window” that is a huge portion of the bill that would allow sex abuse victims to seek justice against their abusers, even if the crime occurred back when the victims were children.
The reason the bill is still dying despite it’s marginal supporters could be due to lobbyists.
After closely reviewing lobbying records it was discovered that the insurance industry spent almost half a million dollars attempting to sway lawmakers in Albany back in 2017. The bill that was attacked was the Child Victims Act.
The American Insurance Association designates over 320 insurance companies in the industry. $130,000 was spent on lobbying specific bills including the statute of limitations for child sex crimes in New York. Other companies putting their money against the Child Victims Act are Liberty Mutual and Zurich Insurance. Liberty Mutual has not released a comment in reference to this, but Zurich Insurance did, and admit that they view the “look back window” as “problematic”.
The Catholic Church has been against the “look back window” since Day 1, mainly because their organization would be targeted the most with sex abuse crimes. Lex Filipowski, a former child sex abuse survivor was molested by a Catholic priest. Filipowski believes that that Insurance industry and the Catholic Church are working together to make sure this bill does not get passed because both organizations are looking to reduce exposure to costly liability claims.
Democratic Assembly member Linda Rosenthal who sponsors the Child Victims Act in the State Assembly said, “The insurance companies, all they care about is the bottom line,” Rosenthal said. “What they neglect to consider is people’s lives, the damage that has been done to people who have been sexually abused as children, the fact that whole families have fallen apart. Lives have been ruined. So it’s reprehensible.”
Insurance companies and the Catholic Church are not the only groups looking out for themselves. It was founded that other groups representing foster care workers are teachers are also lobbying against the Child Victims Act being passed. This just has GUILT written all over it.
If you have been a victim of sexual abuse please contact our clergy abuse attorneys at Alonso Krangle LLP at 800-403-6191 or through our website at www.fightforvictims.com. Our attorneys understand that your story is very sensitive to you and encourage you to seek full justice against any person or organization abetted the crime. Please do not hesitate, call us today to review your legal rights.