House Passes Two Greenleaf Bills
HARRISBURG—A bill sponsored by Sen. Greenleaf to extend the statute of
limitations for child sexual abuse was approved by the House, along with another
Greenleaf bill authorizing Pennsylvania’s membership in an interstate
agreement for the supervision of parolees.
Because of House amendments, the measures must return to the Senate for
concurrence votes.
Senate Bill 212 would extend the period of time for a victim of childhood
sexual abuse to file a civil action against the alleged perpetrator to 12 years
after reaching the age of 18. Current
state law allows a window of two years after age 18 to file a lawsuit and is one
of the most restrictive statutes in the nation.
Greenleaf, who first introduced the bill in 1993, said that it takes time
for a victim of child sexual abuse to become independent and to come to terms
with the trauma of abuse, especially since the perpetrator is likely to have
been a close relative or some other trusted adult.
The measure, as amended, incorporates another Greenleaf proposal—this
one dealing with the criminal statute of limitations.
It would extend the time period for prosecution of sexual assault from
the current five years to within 12 years of the occurrence of the crime. This
provision would pertain to sexual assaults against victims of any age.
Greenleaf noted that the extension of time for prosecution would aid
victims of unsolved cases in instances when DNA evidence from a perpetrator
arrested for a subsequent crime matches the evidence preserved from the unsolved
case. “Perpetrators of sexual
assault often have multiple victims. The use of DNA technology combined with the
extended time for prosecution should help bring more offenders to justice,”
Greenleaf said.
Under Senate Bill 391, the state would be authorized to join in the
revised interstate compact for transfers of parolees between states.
The current compact was developed in 1937 and requires updating to ensure
proper supervision of parolees through better enforcement, accountability, and
information sharing between states. Demand
for change in the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision came about
at the time that Sen. Greenleaf initiated reforms in out-of-state parolee
supervision in Pennsylvania. As
chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Greenleaf worked with the State
Board of Probation and Parole to make changes in the system after an
out-of-state parolee transferred to the commonwealth was convicted of a brutal
murder in suburban Philadelphia.
The new interstate compact will go
into effect when it is ratified by 35 states.
To date, 33 states have enacted legislation to join the compact.
Sen. Greenleaf noted the importance of Pennsylvania being one of the
first 35 states so that it would be among the states involved with developing
the rules by which the compact will operate.
