HB 771, Civil practice: statute of

limitations for actions for childhood

sexual abuse; extend





Brittany Martin, Steven Miller,
Brandi Pray, & Jenny Teasley
Problem Definition
Current law states that victims of childhood sexual
abuse have until 5 years after they turn the age of
majority to sue their abuser.

The current age of majority is understood to be
16-years old, which gives victims until their 21
st

birthday. If a victim comes forward later in life, they
are not legally able to sue their abuser in Georgia.

There is currently no time limitation on suing their
abusers employer.
Problem Definition (cont.)
Important Definitions
Child Protective Services defines childhood sexual
abuse as occurring when a child under the age of
18 is used for the sexual gratification of a parent
or other adult.

Substantiated Case- accusation is found to be
supported by state policy or law
Unsubstantiated Case- investigation lacked the
evidence necessary to warrant a sufficient
conclusion
Problem Definition (cont.)
Victims
80,000+ substantiated child sexual abuse cases in the
U.S. annually
Every 14 minutes, there is a report of child abuse in GA
(38,578) and 5.1% of these claims are of sexual abuse
(1,967)
Of all the cases reported in 2013, only 4-8% of these
were found to be fabricated (untrue) and these cases
were typically made up by adults in child custody
battles
Child victims are almost equal boys vs. girls, but girls
outnumber boys in statistics by 1-2% due to
unreported boy cases
African Americans, Native Americans, & mixed descent
children have higher rates of being victimized sexually
Problem Definition (cont.)
Perpetrators
80.3% of perpetrators are parents, 6.1% other
relatives, 4.2% are unmarried partners of parents,
4.6% have some other relationship to the victim
(babysitter, teacher, etc.), & 3.1% typically do not
know the victim previous to the molestation

Employers of the Abused
Ongoing debate about timeframe appropriate to
sue the employer (30 years later, 10 years later?)
Ex. Catholic Church & Penn State
Legislative Process


This bill was assigned to the Judiciary non-civil committee with
Representative Rich Golick from the 40
th
district who serves as
the Chairman. He also was one of the sponsors who signed onto
this bill with Representative Jason Spencer. Golick sent it to a
subcommittee who favorably reported it on February 26
th
.







Jan/17/2014 House Hopper
Jan/21/2014 House First Readers
Jan/22/2014 House Second Readers
Feb/26/2014 - House Committee Favorably Reported By
Substitute
Mar/3/2014 Was unable to cross over for a floor vote


Amendment to Existing Law
House bill 771 was an attempt to amend
Chapter 3 of Title 9 of the O.C.G.A.
The current Act, code 9-3- 33.1 in the (b)
clause, states, (b) Any civil action for recovery
of damages suffered as a result of childhood
sexual abuse shall be commenced within five
years of the date the plaintiff attains the age
of majority (O.C.G.A., 2014, 9-3- 33.1).
What Would HB 771 Change?
Its original purpose was to expand the statute
of limitations for actions for childhood sexual
abuse five years after the age of 18 years of
age. The current limitation is five years after
the age of majority (16 years old)
Substitutions were made to the original bill to
extend it for ten years past 18 years of age
and there was a 5-year limit added for a victim
to sue a third party

Representative Jason Spencer
Jason spencer suggested
the bill.
The bill was Substituted
Southern Baptist Church
supported Bill
Catholic Church Against the
bill
Bill 771 never made it to
cross over day
More advocates needed to
sway Committee
Attach bill to Renee
Underman (Bill 917)
Bill died
Vowed to bring in the big
guns next year



Mary Margaret Oliver

State House Representative 82
Committees: Appropriations, Judiciary,
Government Affairs, Juvenile Justice and
Science and Technology
Interview date: February 18
th
(23
rd
Legislative
Day)
Chief of Staff: Carol Stern


Significant points of discussion:

* Optimism of the passing of 771
* Lack of Ambiguity (statute of limitation)
* Short Legislative Session
* Inclement winter weather effect on House
schedule
* More Controversial Issues taking longer to be
heard (Gun Control)

Personal Reflections