Establishes the period of limitation for the prosecution of a sex offense defined in article 130 of the penal law, incest in the first, second or third degrees or use of a child in a sexual performance committed against a person less than eighteen years of age shall not begin to run until the person has reached the age of twenty-three or the offense is reported to law enforcement or the statewide central register of child abuse and maltreatment, whichever occurs earlier; allows civil claims or causes of action brought by any person for physical, psychological or other injury or condition suffered as a result of conduct that is a sex offense as defined in article 130 of or the penal law, incest or use of a child in a sexual performance committed against a child who was less that eighteen years of age at the time shall be allowed to be commenced five years after the child reaches the age of twenty-three; revives for 1 year, any such civil claim or cause of action which was barred because the applicable statute of limitations expired.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5488
SPONSOR: Markey (MS) TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in
relation to the timeliness of prosecutions for certain sex offenses; and
to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to the timeliness
for commencing certain civil actions related to sex offenses
PURPOSE: The bill amends the criminal Procedure Law and the civil
Practice Law an4 Rules to extend the statute of limitations for criminal
and civil actions for sex offenses under article one hundred thirty of
the Penal Law committed against a child less than eighteen years of age,
for incest against a child less then eighteen years of age or the use of
a child in a sexual performance.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section one of the bill amends the Criminal
Procedure Law to increase the criminal statute of limitation for the
prosecution of certain sex.offenses committed against a child under the
age of eighteen, for incest against a child less then eighteen years of
age or the use of a child in a sexual performance. The period of limita-
tion would not begin to run until the child reaches the age of 23 years
or the offense is reported to a law enforcement agency or the statewide
central register of child abuse and maltreatment.
Section two of the bill would extend the civil statute of limitation for
causes of action to remedy injuries or conditions suffered as a result
of conduct which would constitute a sexual offense as defined in article
one hundred thirty of the penal law committed against a child less than
eighteen years of age, incest as defined in section 255.25,255.26 or
255.27 of the penal law committed against a child less than eighteen
years of age, or the use of, a child in a sexual performance as defined
in section 263.05 of the penal law. Such action would have to be
commenced within five years after the child reaches the age of 23 years.
Under current law, the criminal statute of limitations in child sexual
abuse cases in which a victim does not report the crime to law enforce-
ment is not applied until the victim reaches age 18. This bill would add
five years to the statute; so that the five year statute of limitations
in such cases would not begin to run until the victim turned age 23
(extending the time for prosecution until a child victim reached age
28).
Section three of the bill would revive expired civil causes of action
based on conduct which would constitute a sexual offense as defined in
article one hundred thirty of the penal law committed against a child
less than eighteen years of age, incest as defined in section 255.25,
255.26 or 255.27 of ,the penal law committed against a child less than
eighteen. years of age, or the use of a child in a sexual performance as
defined in section 263.05 of the penal law. Persons for whom the right
to bring a civil action has been foreclosed because of the current civil
statute of limitations bar would be given a one-year "window period"
from the date of enactment of the bill, regardless of their age, in
which to bring an action to recover damages for any past instance of
child sexual abuse. Prior to the commencement of the action, the plain-
tiff must obtain a certificate of merit by a mental health expert that
states in reasonable detail the facts and opinions relied upon for
concluding that the plaintiff was a victim of sexual abuse. The
complaint shall be accompanied by a certificate of merit as described in
subdivision (c) of this section.
Section four of the bill is a savings clause.
Section five of the bill is the effective date. The bill would take
effect immediately but section three which revives expired claims would
take effect 60 days after becoming law.
JUSTIFICATION: Sex crimes, particularly those committed against chil-
dren, are among the most heinous and deeply disturbing in our society.
They are crimes that leave life-long scars, multiple victims and require
an all encompassing strategy to combat. This proposal would extend the
authority to prosecute and to bring a civil lawsuit for damages in child
sexual abuse cases in three significant ways, regardless of whether or
not DNA evidence is available. This bill will provide a remedy for
those whose lives have been unalterably changed by the horror of child-
hood sexual abuse. Victims of these horrific crimes will get their day
in court and be able to seek the justice they have been denied.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: A11723/S8053 - June 20, 2006 Passed in the Assem-
bly A4560/S4614 - June 4, 2007 Passed in the Assembly A4560-B/S4614A -
June 11, 2008 Passed in the Assembly
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None
EFFECTIVE DATE: Immediately
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5488
2011-2012 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 22, 2011
___________
Introduced by M. of A. MARKEY, MILLMAN, BRENNAN, GALEF, GLICK, AUBRY,
MAYERSOHN, PRETLOW, JAFFEE, LATIMER, GUNTHER, HIKIND, ENGLEBRIGHT --
Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. CLARK, GOTTFRIED, JACOBS, MAGEE,
RAMOS, RUSSELL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to the timeli-
ness of prosecutions for certain sex offenses; and to amend the civil
practice law and rules, in relation to the timeliness for commencing
certain civil actions related to sex offenses
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (f) of subdivision 3 of section 30.10 of the
2 criminal procedure law, as separately amended by chapters 3 and 320 of
3 the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:
4 (f) For purposes of a prosecution involving a sexual offense as
5 defined in article one hundred thirty of the penal law, other than a
6 sexual offense delineated in paragraph (a) of subdivision two of this
7 section, committed against a child less than eighteen years of age,
8 incest in the first, second or third degree as defined in sections
9 255.27, 255.26 and 255.25 of the penal law committed against a child
10 less than eighteen years of age, or use of a child in a sexual perform-
11 ance as defined in section 263.05 of the penal law, the period of limi-
12 tation shall not begin to run until the child has reached the age of
13 [eighteen] twenty-three or the offense is reported to a law enforcement
14 agency or statewide central register of child abuse and maltreatment,
15 whichever occurs earlier.
16 § 2. The opening paragraph of section 208 of the civil practice law
17 and rules is designated subdivision (a) and a new subdivision (b) is
18 added to read as follows:
19 (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (a) of this section,
20 with respect to all civil claims or causes of action brought by any
21 person for physical, psychological or other injury or condition suffered
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08258-01-1
A. 5488 2
1 as a result of conduct which would constitute a sexual offense as
2 defined in article one hundred thirty of the penal law committed against
3 a child less than eighteen years of age, incest as defined in section
4 255.25, 255.26 or 255.27 of the penal law committed against a child less
5 than eighteen years of age, or the use of a child in a sexual perform-
6 ance as defined in section 263.05 of the penal law, or a predecessor
7 statute that prohibited such conduct at the time of the act, which
8 conduct was committed against a child less than eighteen years of age,
9 the time within which the action must be commenced shall be extended to
10 five years after the person reaches the age of twenty-three years.
11 § 3. The civil practice law and rules is amended by adding a new
12 section 3012-b to read as follows:
13 § 3012-b. Certain child sexual abuse cases; certificate of merit. (a)
14 Notwithstanding any provision of law which imposes a period of limita-
15 tion to the contrary, every civil claim or cause of action brought by a
16 person for physical, psychological, or other injury or condition
17 suffered as a result of conduct which would constitute a sexual offense
18 as defined in article one hundred thirty of the penal law committed
19 against a child less than eighteen years of age, incest as defined in
20 section 255.25, 255.26 or 255.27 of the penal law committed against a
21 child less than eighteen years of age, or the use of a child in a sexual
22 performance as defined in section 263.05 of the penal law, or a prede-
23 cessor statute that prohibited such conduct at the time of the act,
24 which conduct was committed against a child less than eighteen years of
25 age, which is barred as of the effective date of this section because
26 the applicable period of limitation has expired is hereby revived, and
27 action thereon may be commenced provided that such action is commenced
28 within one year of the effective date of this section.
29 (b) In any action brought pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section
30 for physical, psychological, or other injury or condition suffered as a
31 result of conduct which would constitute a sexual offense as described
32 in subdivision (a) of this section, the complaint shall be accompanied
33 by a certificate of merit as described in subdivision (c) of this
34 section.
35 (c) A certificate of merit filed pursuant to subdivision (b) of this
36 section shall be filed by the attorney for the plaintiff and shall
37 contain a notarized statement by a qualified psychiatrist, as defined in
38 section 9.01 of the mental hygiene law, a psychologist as licensed
39 pursuant to article one hundred fifty-three of the education law, or a
40 person in the practice of mental health counseling, as defined in subdi-
41 vision one of section eighty-four hundred two of the education law, who
42 is knowledgeable in the relevant facts and issues involved in the
43 particular action, and states in reasonable detail the facts and opin-
44 ions that the person has relied upon for concluding that there is a
45 reasonable basis to believe that the plaintiff has been subject to one
46 or more acts of child sexual abuse of the type described in subdivision
47 (a) of this section. The person providing such statement may not be a
48 party to the litigation.
49 (d) Where a certificate is required pursuant to this section, a single
50 certificate shall be filed for each action, even if more than one
51 defendant has been named in the complaint or is subsequently named.
52 § 4. The provisions of this act shall be severable, and if any clause,
53 sentence, paragraph, subdivision or part of this act shall be adjudged
54 by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment
55 shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall
56 be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdi-
A. 5488 3
1 vision or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which
2 such judgment shall have been rendered.
3 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately, provided that section
4 three of this act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after this act
5 shall have become a law.
