Current law in New York State gives victims of sexual abuse until the age of 23 to pursue either criminal charges or a civil lawsuit against their alleged abuser.
Child advocates are pushing to change that during the current legislative session in Albany.
Mary Whittier, executive director of Bivona Child Advocacy Center in Rochester, says child sexual abuse is cloaked in secrecy and shame, and many victims don't come to terms with what happened until they are well into their adult years.
"I've done presentations before, where people who are 45, 50..I had a 64-year-old woman come up to me who said, 'I was the victim of childhood sexual abuse and I never told anybody. I'm telling you for the first time, and I wish there was something I could do about it.' "
Whittier says lifting the statute of limitations on felony sex crimes is the number one item on the legislative agenda for the New York State chapter of the National Children's Alliance, but she says there is strong opposition from the Catholic Church and other organized groups, and it will take an army of supporters to bring about change.
Lawmakers who support the idea say prospects are improving with a recent change in legislative leadership and passage of a similar measure two years ago in Massachusetts, as well as the recent Academy Award-winning film "Spotlight" about the abuse of boys in Boston by Catholic priests.
The film was shown in a state building near the Capitol in Albany Wednesday following a rally by lawmakers and New Yorkers who were abused as children.
