{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://ross.house.gov/2022/9/icymi-congresswoman-ross-legislation-help-child-sex-abuse-victims-seek-justice", "ICYMI: Congresswoman Ross Legislation to Help Child Sex Abuse Victims Seek Justice Signed Into Law", "2022-09-20", "2022", "2022-09", "Democrat", "House", "NC", "Deborah K. Ross", "R000305", "ross.house.gov", "ross", "https://ross.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington D.C. \u2014 Last week, President Biden signed into law the Senate companion to Congresswoman Deborah Ross\u2019 (NC-02) bipartisan legislation to ensure that survivors of child sexual abuse are able to seek justice in court without being barred by statutes of limitations. Congresswoman Ross introduced the legislation with Representatives Eric Swalwell (CA-15), Guy Reschenthaler (PA-14), and Maria Salazar (FL-27). She spoke in support of her legislation on the House floor.\n\n86 percent of child sexual abuse goes unreported, and the average age of victims reporting child sex abuse is 52. The Eliminating Limits to Justice for Child Sex Abuse Victims Act will enable survivors who were victims of over a dozen federal child sex abuse offenses to seek civil damages in federal court regardless of the time it takes to process and disclose the abuse.\n\n\u201cThe trauma of childhood abuse can take decades to process, and too often, statutes of limitations prevent survivors from seeking the justice they deserve,\u201d said Congresswoman Ross. \u201cAll survivors deserve to see their day in court \u2014 no matter how long it takes them to process the trauma they\u2019ve experienced. I\u2019m proud that our bipartisan legislation was signed into law and will ensure our most vulnerable can see justice served.\u201d\n\nFor victims who choose to report their abuse, \u201cdelayed disclosure,\u201d or the tendency of survivors of child sex abuse to wait for years before disclosing abuse to others, is common. Historically, delayed disclosure has impacted survivors\u2019 path to justice.\n\nUnder current federal law, no statute of limitations (SOL) bars the prosecution of criminal offenses involving child sex abuse anytime while the child victim is alive or 10 years after the offense, whichever is later. However, statutes of limitations remain an obstacle for survivors under the federal civil remedy statute. While Congress in 2018 lengthened the SOL for federal civil child sex abuse claims until the victim reached age 28 or until 10 years from the discovery of the violation or injury, this SOL still does not reflect the current state of research on delayed disclosure.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T03:08:33Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://ross.house.gov/2022/9/icymi-congresswoman-ross-legislation-help-child-sex-abuse-victims-seek-justice"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9165001101791859, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}