PA Seeks To Eliminate Statute Of Limitations For Sexual Crimes

A series of bills currently proposed in the Pennsylvania state legislature would eliminate or modify the statute of limitations for the prosecution of sexual crimes.

There are a pair of bills in the House, HB 962 and HB 963, which are together called the Pennsylvania Hidden Predator Act. There's also a new piece of related legislation in the Senate that will be formally introduced Wednesday.

If the Senate bill is passed into law, sex offenders could be charged regardless of whether the victim was a child or an adult at the time of the alleged crime.

It could prove especially important for victims of child sex abuse, who sometimes may not be empowered to come forward until they are older.

There's also plain precedence for how such a law could impact cases involving adults. The Bill Cosby saga is but one example: the now convicted comedian was accused of sexual misconduct by dozens of women who came forward over the years, but it wasn't until 2018 that criminal charges were successfully brought against him. Some of that was due to the fact that the crimes many of his accusers said he committed could not be prosecuted due to an expired statute of limitations.

The House Judiciary Committee approved both HB 962 and 963 on Monday. 962 would eliminate the criminal statute of limitations for any child sex crimes. Victims of abuse are currently only able to file criminal charges until they are 30 years old; under the new legislation, they would be able to file lawsuits until they were 55.

HB 963, meanwhile, would provide a two-year window for victims to pursue legal claims in cases of expired statutes. This requires an amendement to the Pennsylvania state constitution.

The bills enjoy a degree of bipartisan support; 963 was introduced by Republican State Rep. Jim Gregory (Blair Co.) while Democrat State Rep. Mark Rozzi (Berks Co.) brought forward 962. The House Judiciary Committee, which passed the bills onto the floor, is compromised of 15 Republicans and nine Democrats.

Several Philadelphia area state senators are introducing the Senate bill Wednesday, including Maria Collett, Katie Muth, Tim Kearny and Steve Santarsiero.