Rhode Island lawmakers pass bill giving sexual abuse victims 35 years to bring lawsuits

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Rhode Island General Assembly overwhelmingly passed legislation on Wednesday to give victims of childhood sexual abuse more time to sue perpetrators and hold institutions and public entities accountable.

The legislation heads to the desk of Governor Gina Raimondo, who is expected to sign it into law.

It extends the statute of limitations to 35 years after victims reach adulthood.

Victims will have 35 years to bring lawsuits against individual perpetrators, regardless of whether the case had been “time-barred” under previous laws. The bill also keeps state law allowing victims to file suits within seven years of “discovering” they’d been abused.

They will also have 35 years to bring lawsuits against institutions and organizations, as well as the state, municipalities and quasi-public agencies. Nesslebush said she insisted on adding those agencies, after seeing the widespread abuse by Jerry Sandusky at Penn State and Larry Nassar at Michigan State University.

Read more: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/rhode-island/2019/06/26/rhode-island-lawmakers-pass-bill-giving-sexual-abuse-victims-years-bring-lawsuits/KVFDNvZBoJ5dsRfa95seiP/story.html