C: Is for ending child abuse

This was on a friend of mines facebook page. We all need to sign this! Abuse needs to stop instead of escalate!

A Petition to: Hon. Sheldon Silver, Speaker, NY State Assembly
Hon. Malcolm Smith, President , NY State Senate
Hon. Pedro Espada, Jr., Majority Leader, NY State Senate
Hon. Dean Skelos, Minority Leader, NY State Senate
Hon. John Sampson, Leader, Democratic Conference, NY State Senate
Your State Assembly Member
Your State Senator
We Need to Protect NY's Children and Stop Shielding Sexual Abusers
I strongly urge you and your colleagues to support the Child Victim's Act of New York in a Special Session of the Legislature this fall (A2596B, Markey / S5893, Ruth Hassell Thompson).

There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of UNKNOWN sex abusers of children living and working among us -- in schools, churches, synagogues, youth groups, and especially in families. To find and pursue them, our legislators must change the New York State statute of limitations (SOL), as two special grand juries in New York have declared.

According to the FBI, 1 in 5 of ALL children are sexually abused before they are 18! Many predators are life-long abusers, with as many as 100 victims. Yet, only 10% of this abuse is ever reported to authorities.

This epidemic is made worse by those who have criminally covered up for abusers and are themselves shielded by the state's statute. For example, two special grand juries in NYS -- Suffolk and Westchester -- have uncovered orchestrated criminal actions by religious institutions using deception and intimidation to delay victims from legal recourse until the statute of limitations expired.

There is one proven way to discover predators and their protectors.
"...the NYS legislature should enact a statute similar to the state of California that revives civil actions for damages for a period of one year...." -- Suffolk County Special Grand Jury.

When California enacted a similar law, it discovered more than 300 undetected predators. Delaware, a much smaller state, has discovered more than 60. Given that predators have multiple victims, thousands of children have now been protected in just these two pioneering states.

New York's children deserve this protection, too.
The Child Victims Act of New York will:

Expose UNKNOWN AND SHIELDED predators by suspending the statute of limitations for just one year, allowing cases to be revived.
Provide justice for victims who were unfairly or criminally denied their day in court.
The limit would be 35 years after age 18.
Provide additional time for future victims to overcome their trauma, extending the SOL from age 23 to 28.
Applies to all sectors, public and private
Save our state extensive financial and social costs by reducing the number of victims and abusers
Please protect New York's children. Don't shield their abusers!
I support the Child Victims Act of New York (A2596B/S5893).
Petitioner:
Address:
(with City)
Zip Code:

We can make a difference and that is a F.A.C.T.