
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, October 24, 1994                   TAG: 9410250006
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MAKING AMENDS FOR CHILD ABUSE

CHILD ABUSE - sexual and otherwise - is, sad to say, not uncommon. And, in many cases, the victims are so traumatized or threatened that they cannot or dare not tell what's happened to them until many years later.

Only recently, as understanding of this phenomenon has grown, have lawmakers agreed that perpetrators of past abuse should be held accountable for the physical and emotional damage they've caused.

That is what one issue on the Nov. 8 ballot is about. The question is: ``Shall the Constitution of Virginia be amended to authorize the General Assembly to reopen and extend the statutory time period for bringing civil law suits which involve intentional injuries to minors?'' The voters' answer should be "yes."

Ordinarily, the statute of limitations requires that injured children bring civil suit before they reach age 20. But in 1991 the state assembly recognized that, particularly in cases of sexual abuse, the injury can be hidden - even from the injured - until the victims are older or in therapy. Lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a revision allowing victims of childhood abuse to bring civil suit up to age 28 and within two years after the injury was revealed.

This new law, however, was constitutionally flawed. The state's Supreme Court said the legislature could change the time limits for future cases, but could not reopen them for past abuse. The ruling's effect was to free many abusers from liability for their past deeds - deeds so brutal that extensive, expensive, medical and psychological counseling might be required to give their victims any hope of recovery.

The constitutional amendment is needed to fix this flaw.

Yes, lawyers and litigation are winners in this, as in so many things lawmakers do. But the new law extends the time period for bringing civil lawsuits only in cases involving intentional injuries to children; negligence alone doesn't count.

And, yes, the phenomenon of repressed memory has been exposed to increasing scrutiny and scepticism recently - for good reason. But the new law does not remove due process for the accused or relax protections against frivolous or vindictive charges.

Abuse of children, keep in mind, is also a sin against society. It leaves a wake of dysfunctional people, many of whom become drug addicts, prostitutes, criminals - and child abusers themselves, perpetuating the damage ad infinitum. Child abusers need to be held accountable for their actions.

by CNB