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Child Victims Act

Sen. John Flanagan (R) hopes to retain his seat in New York State’s 2nd District. His challenger is political newcomer Kathleen Cleary (D). Photos by Kyle Barr

State Sen. and Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-East Northport) believes his length of tenure is an asset to New York State’s 2nd Senate District, while Democrat Kathleen Cleary hopes to bring new ideas to the floor.

“I believe my opponent with the utmost sincerity takes it seriously. We just come at it from a different angle.”

— John Flanagan

Cleary, a 20-year resident also of East Northport, is a former contract manager for companies such as Citigroup and Merrill Lynch. While she thinks Flanagan has done a good job in his 32 years in office, she said she believes he has also held up key legislation including the Child Victims Act and Reproductive Health Act.

“We need to have new voices up there and to be able to be a little more diverse in backgrounds of people who are working there to be more reflective of the people in the district and not to have career politicians in the position for many years,” she said.

Cleary would like to see the Child Victims Act passed in the state Senate, which would extend the statute of limitations involving child sex abuse survivors in both criminal and civil cases and provide a one-year look-back window for victims to bring civil claims in cases where the statute of limitations has expired. She said most children don’t report a sexual crime because they are afraid the abuser will hurt them, or they weren’t aware what was done to them was wrong.

Flanagan said while the Senate has not passed the bill introduced by the state Assembly, senators have been working on pieces of legislation directed toward extending the time period to report from 23 to 28 years old or even 33 years in some cases.

“Everybody takes this issue seriously,” he said. “I believe my opponent with the utmost sincerity takes it seriously. We just come at it from a different angle.”

The two also disagreed on the best practice when it comes to gun legislation.

“We’re going to be penalized by the way our state funds our schools and that is something that we don’t want — to be cutting our budgets and taking money away from our children.”

— Kathleen Cleary

Cleary would like to see the Red Flag Gun Protection Bill pass. It would prevent those determined by a court to have the potential to cause serious harm to themselves or others from purchasing or possessing any type of firearm. The bill hasn’t made it to the Senate floor.

Flanagan said the Red Flag bill sounds great in theory, but is too broad to a point where it’s possible for a police officer’s firearm to be taken away. He believes it needs more work before it is passed.

He said part of the recent budget included new measures involving domestic violence and the ability for the abuser to have or not have a firearm. He believes in gun control and supported the New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act of 2013.

“I took a lot of grief, which is fine,” the senator said. “I believe I made the right vote.”

As for money matters, both candidates looked toward schools as a way to save money for taxpayers.

Cleary said with the loss of the SALT deduction on federal taxes the state needs to rethink how it funds schools through property taxes.

“We’re going to be penalized by the way our state funds our schools and that is something that we don’t want — to be cutting our budgets and taking money away from our children,” she said.

Cleary talked about shared services for school districts, for example transportation, even though she believes districts should continue to have local control.

Flanagan said BOCES is an example of sharing services, and he believes keeping the 2 percent property tax cap is important for school districts as well as libraries, sewer districts and similar entities to control spending.

When it comes to the economy, Cleary and Flanagan agreed that the state needs to make it easier for entrepreneurs to start a business to help the local economy and conduct cost-benefit analysis on every regulation.

Flanagan said Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) needs to stop blaming the federal government and president.

“[The governor] should be looking at his own house,” Flanagan said. “What is our tax policy here in New York? What are we doing for the middle class? What are we doing to make sure those high-income people stay in New York?”

Protests outside Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan's East Northport home March 23. Photo by Sara-Megan Walsh

Roughly a dozen protesters marched up and down Cayuga Avenue in East Northport Friday morning greeting residents as they headed to work with chants of “hey hey, ho ho, predators have got to go.”

The New Yorkers Against Hidden Predators, a coalition of child sex abuse survivors, advocates, and advocacy organizations, stood outside state Sen. John Flanagan’s (R) home to protest his opposition to the Child Victims Act March 23. They carried signs reading “Stop protecting predators & start protecting kids” as well as blown up copies of the New York Daily News front cover “Protectors of the Predators” featuring Flanagan’s photo.

Kathryn Robb protests with others outside Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan’s East Northport home March 23. Photo by Sara-Megan Walsh

The rally’s aim was to push the Senate Majority Leader to use his position among Republicans to negotiate approval of the legislation that would open up the state’s statute of limitations of child-sex abuse crimes.

“I think that the power and energy of the ‘Me Too’ movement has really opened people’s eyes,” said Kathryn Robb, a Manhasset resident and child sexual abuse survivor. “We’re saying enough is enough, time is up. The laws in New York need to change. They are archaic and protect the predators, not victims.”

The Child Victims Act, if passed, would extend the time that child-sex abuse victims have to file a lawsuit from age 23 to age 28 in criminal cases, and up to age 50 in civil cases. In addition, the passage of the bill would open up a one-year period where survivors could file claims previously not permitted under the current law.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) included the Child Victims Act in his 2018 executive budget for the first time, after the bill was passed by the state assembly in 2017. The March 23 rally coincides with the last weekend of negotiations before the April 1 deadline to approve the state budget.

The act has been blocked by Senate Republicans numerous times during the past 14 years, according to Marci Hamilton, a founding member of the New Yorkers Against Hidden Predators and CEO of CHILD USA, a nonprofit think tank that seeks to end child abuse and neglect through evidence-based research.

“We are out here to tell Senator Flanagan it’s time to finally put this bill to rest and pass it,” Hamilton said. “He has personally refused to meet with us.”

Protests outside Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan’s East Northport home March 23. Photo by Sara-Megan Walsh

Sen. Flanagan and his spokesperson were not immediately available for comment in response to this morning’s protest.

In a pre-Election Day 2016 sit down with TBR News Media and his then Democratic challenger Peter Magistrale, Flanagan addressed the Child Victims Act and statutes of limitation.

“We have statutes of limitations for very cogent reasons and no matter how emotional a subject may be, witness availability, evidence, all those things have a salutary effect in terms of what happens,” he said.

Hamilton said the protest group has plans this afternoon to meet with state Sen. Elaine Phillips (R-Flower Hill) in her office to discuss her position on the Child Victims Act and attempt to negotiate her support of the bill’s passage.

Peter Magistrale speaks in support of the Child Victims Act at a rally in St. James. Photo by Ted Ryan

By Ted Ryan and Victoria Espinoza

Residents of the North Shore gathered at Veterans Memorial Park in St. James Oct. 15, to raise awareness of sexual abuse of children in New York state.

Democratic candidate for the state Senate race in the 2nd District, Peter Magistrale, hosted the rally. He is advocating for a change to the current statute of limitations that restricts when a child rape victim can come forward with a civil or criminal case against their abuser.

In New York, once victims turn 23 they can no longer make a case for child abuse against the predator in question.

According to research conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one out of four girls and one in six boys are sexually abused before the age of 18. In addition, the National Center for Victims of Crime said 14 percent of sexual offenders commit another sexual offense after five years, and 24 percent after 15 years.

The National Sex Offender Public Website stated children usually delay telling someone if they have been sexually abused because they are either afraid of a negative reaction from their parents or of being harmed by the abuser. The website indicated kids often “delay disclosure until adulthood.”

Magistrale said he thinks the restriction is unjust and wants to turn the tide on child abusers by removing the statute of limitations through the Child Victims Act. The bill would eliminate both criminal and civil statutes of limitation for child sexual abuse, and provide a one-time, one-year window in the statute of limitations to enable victims whose claim was time-barred by the current arbitrary limitations to revive their claim.

A similar version of this bill failed to make it past the state Senate floor during the legislative session this past June.

“A kid takes on average 21 years to come forward [to admit they were abused],” Magistrale said at the rally. “The average age that a child is raped is 8 or 9. By the time they build the courage and get over their psychological scars, time is up. We have to pass the Child Victims Act to do two things: Lift the statute of limitations completely, and then give a one-year look back window for people who were abused and unable to come forward in the past to point out who did it to them so we get them [the predators] off the street as well.”

Several victims of child abuse spoke at the rally, as well as members of anti-child abuse organizations. They told their stories of the abuse and their subsequent frustration with the restrictive statute.

Among the speakers was Melanie Blow, COO of the Stop Abuse Campaign.

“It’s simply ridiculous it’s taken us 10 years to pass the most significant bill to prevent child abuse,” Blow said. “But we’ve got survivors coming together right now to get the word out, to tell parents that this is an issue, and this piece of legislation will help.”

John De Vito, Democratic candidate for the state Senate’s 3rd district, also spoke at the rally.

“So many people here who are victims of sexual violence might never have a day in court to seek justice,” De Vito said. “But if we pass the Child Victims Act, our children will be awarded that opportunity going forward.”

During an interview at TBR News Media’s office in East Setauket, state Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-East Northport) said he agreed with Magistrale, who he is running against for re-election in the 2nd District, that this is an important issue but he does not support the legislation.

“There are significant protections in the law right now,” he said. “This is a one-year opener that could bring cases going back 40, 50, 60 years. We have statute of limitations for very cogent reasons and no matter how emotional a subject may be, witness availability, evidence, all those things have a salutary effect in terms of what happens.”