If during the first 30 days of the following legislative session, Democrats gain the state Senate, the Child Victims Act will be passed, according to three Democratic Senate candidates.
Emily Martz who is running against Senator Elizabeth Little, Republican, began pushing voters to get the bill passed once and for all. Martz held a campaign at Crandall Public Library to urge voters and to express their support towards victims, and the bill.
Since the beginning, Republican leaders have rejected the passage for the Child Victims Act and has stood motionless for over a decade, despite it being passed in the Assembly six times. In the past, Elizabeth Little voted against the bill, reasoning that she felt adult victims would sue institutions and people who abetted the abuse, particularly the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America association. But until now, Little claims her own feelings have shifted and that she is now ready to support the bills passage into the Senate but Martz believes that Little’s realization has come a moment too late.
Martz stated, “Until I got into the race, my opponent stood squarely against the act,” she said. “I stand today, as I always will, with the victims.” She continued “(Little) sided instead with the predators.”
Dan MacEntee, Little’s spokesman vehemently rejected Martz statement, saying, “It’s false. It’s campaign rhetoric,” he said. “She is a mother and grandmother and wants to see, as much as anyone, justice for these victims.” He continued, “She supports the legislation as proposed by the governor,” he said. “She can be counted on to vote for it.”
Martz is not the only one attacking Little’s stance. Heath Bromley, a victim of child sex abuse by a Catholic priest, made strong statements against Little at a Child Victims Act meeting.
“She says she’ll make the change, now that she’s running for re-election. I don’t feel she should get another chance to fail us,” Bromley said.
A former WNYT-TV meteorologist and also a child sex abuse survivor, Jason Gough stated he is more concerned about predators who cannot be arrested because of the statute of limitations. “Time’s up for the priests who continue to skip merrily down the street,”Gough said. “He gets up, he brushes his teeth, he eats breakfast, and everything is peachy keen. This gets passed and his life is going to change. And I can’t wait.”
In Gough’s case, his abuser was sent to prison for their crime, but is eligible for release. “We were able to get him on a couple current cases, and he keeps trying to get out. So that’s what we’re facing. It’s not about money. It’s about being able to face your predator and heal. If you know your last victim turned 23, you can walk into a police department and say, ‘Hey, look what I did,’ and there’s nothing that can be done,” Gough said.
If you have been sexually abused please call our attorneys at Alonso Krangle LLP at 800-403-6191 or through our website at www.fightforvictims.com. Our attorneys are sensitive to your story and will assist you in recourse and the compensation and justice you deserve. We will fight together against your abuser or any institution that has failed to protect you. Please call us today to review your legal rights.