http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/knau/local-knau-887585.mp3
Phoenix, AZ – Civil claims of childhood sexual abuse must now be filed within
two years after a victim turns 18. After that there is no
liability, no matter what evidence turns up. Pinal County Sheriff
Paul Babeau told lawmakers he knows it's important for victims to
get their day in court: He was a victim himself. He said police
knew who this man was and that he had 200 victims but for various
reasons could not be prosecuted criminally.
(Prime suspect in the murder of a 13-year-old boy, much the same
age I was. Where was the justice for all of these people, almost
all of males, all of us handling it in a different way. And I can
tell you I've had friends who committed suicide because of this.)
But Sen. Amanda Aguirre had to scale the bill back to deflect
criticism from lobbyists for the Catholic Church and the company
that insures school districts.
We're trying to get the folks that were directly, that knew
information, that they had the facts, and that they neglected to
act on it. The negligence has to be very much defined, it is a
person that knew the facts, knew what was happening and yet
allowed it to happen and then tried to cover it up.)
That leaves in place the current time limits for claims that
someone had reason to suspect abuse was taking place but did
nothing about it. For Arizona Public Radio this is Howard
Fischer.