Justice Denied author Marci Hamilton just sent me a couple of stories of interest in the recent cases involving abused children in the Orthodox Jewish communities of Brooklyn.

Channel 11 news did a powerful piece yesterday on the current state of the investigation, and spoke with Marci about it.

The video can be seen here.

Meanwhile, TIME Magazine published the results of a study in The Lancet, a British medical journal, which makes the sad conclusion that most abuse cases still go unreported.

Some of the reasons for this, however, include the desire to avoid subjecting children to the child welfare system designed to protect them.

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In an Op-Ed in this morning’s New York Daily News, Justice Denied author Marci Hamilton decries another situation in which sexual abusers are shielded from public scrutiny. It’s a familiar criticism of the Catholic church, but this time, it’s happening in New York’s Orthodox Jewish community.

Most people think our culture offers no sympathy to perpetrators of child sexual abuse and goes to great lengths to protect victims. But in reality, sex criminals still get far too much protection and victims far too little help. The most recent reminder is the case of Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who is sitting on files that detail such abuse in the Orthodox Jewish community - including the names of 60 accused sexual predators.

Hikind isn’t revealing the information to the authorities because, he says, his sources - the people who say they were victims - had sworn him to secrecy and are afraid of becoming outcasts in their community. But the case, and Hikind’s excuses, only underline the need for urgent reform.

First, he says that most of the victims are in their late 20s or older, meaning the statutes of limitations have expired and no prosecution or civil lawsuit could be filed. Regrettably, that is true; state law mandates that criminal charges must be filed by the time a victim is 18 and civil claims by 23.

Second, Hikind maintains that the victims spoke to him in confidence. Again, this is correct. If Hikind were a doctor, police officer or one of the other professionals required by state law to report such abuse, he would be prohibited from refusing to inform authorities because of a deal with victims. He is not.

This is infuriating. In the name of protecting victims, a state assemblyman is shielding people accused of committing the most heinous crimes imaginable.

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Justice Denied author Marci Hamilton sent me yet another story demonstrating the frustrating position that law enforcement finds itself in when dealing with childhood sex abuse and the Statute of Limitations.

DALLAS - While authorities said they have solved the case in the rape of a child in 1983, justice will not be served.

Through DNA tests, police said they discovered Dewayne Douglas Willis, a man presently sitting in a Texas prison for burglary, was the man responsible for the crime. However, in three weeks, Willis will walk out a free man with no parole or restrictions due to the statute of limitations.

It’s another sad example of how the Statutes completely cut off prosecutors for pursuing these cases. But further into the article, some heartening news:

Now, DPD, along with Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins, are pushing for new state laws that would make rape suspects who cannot be prosecuted at least register as a sex offender or have it noted in their criminal history that DNA has linked them to a rape.

“This is all new, going into uncharted territory,” Watkins said. “I think here in Dallas and Texas we can be on the forefront of making a real difference in how we progress in the criminal justice system.”

Perhaps a step in the right direction, but Marci has a better answer — just abolish the statutes for rape cases.

The full article >>

Marci Hamilton

The AP reported Friday that former Congressman Mark Foley, who was accused in 2006 of sending sexually suggestive email messages to underage congressional pages will not be prosecuted in part because Florida’s statute of limitations on such crimes is a mere 3 years. The vast majority of child victims do not come forward at all, and the others rarely come forward before the statutes of limitations on sex crimes expire. This is another example of why the criminal (and civil) statutes of limitations on child sex crimes need to be eliminated.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley won’t face state or federal criminal charges for allegedly sending salacious computer messages to underage male pages, in part because authorities couldn’t prove the authenticity of the chats, officials said Friday. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement also noted in an investigative report that too much time had passed since the February 2003 messages to bring any charges.

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Marci Hamilton has fought for the abolishment of statutes of limitations [SOL] pertaining to childhood sexual abuse.

The SOLs limit the time that the abused have to take an abuser to court. They usually expire before people molested as children are ready to talk about what happened. This hit close to home recently, as Jewish Week reports.

Joel Engelman was 8 years old the first time he was summoned to the principal’s office at his Satmar school in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Not knowing what he might have done to provoke the call, Joel was nervous, as his principal, Rabbi Avrohom Reichman, had a reputation for being strict.

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