Broken Arrow lawmaker opens up about past sex abuse

Oklahoma Rep. Kevin McDugle (R) wishes he could legally do something about the youth pastor who abused him around 35 years ago.

The stigma on sex abuse victims, particularly on boys, kept him from talking about it back then. The statute of limitations prevents him from doing anything about it now.

It’s why he joined as a co-author on a pair of bills — House Bills 1468 and 1470 — sought by Tulsa resident Virginia Lewis, herself a survivor of child sexual abuse. It allows victims to come forward with criminal and civil charges as late as age 45.

“I found out the individual who did it to me works at a church in Tulsa,” McDugle said last week. “These bills do me no good. But I am contacting legal counsel to at least see if the church can be notified. They need to know, and we’ll go from there.”

Read more: http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/ginniegraham/ginnie-graham-broken-arrow-lawmaker-opens-up-about-past-sex/article_37c1b630-2667-54f9-88b0-191f3cb4324d.html