During the 2019 Pennsylvania legislative session, legislators removed the criminal statute of limitations for child sex crimes for any new cases introduced in the state criminal justice system. Before the new law took effect in 2019, child sex crime survivors in Pennsylvania had until the age of 30 to file a civil lawsuit that sought monetary damages. The new law allows thousands of child sex crime survivors in Pennsylvania to become eligible to receive compensation for physical injuries, as well as any medical care required to treat emotional distress issues.
The new law permits child sex crime survivors in PA to take legal action until they reach the age of 55, with a two-year window granted for other victims who lost their right to file a civil lawsuit because their statute of limitations had expired. Although the new age of 55 to take legal action passed both houses, the two-year window granted to all child sex crime survivors in Pennsylvania remains in limbo as of late January 2023.
Called the Window of Opportunity legislation, the new law, which is supported by Governor Wolf and has passed the house, stalled in the Pennsylvania senate. The promise of bipartisan support after the start of the special session appears to have waned despite Governor Wolf’s order for both chambers of the Pennsylvania legislature to focus on passing a proposed constitutional amendment that provides child sex crime survivors the opportunity to seek justice regardless of age.
House Speaker Mark Rozzi issued a press release on the day after discussions between Republicans and Democrats failed to resolve differences, most of which appear to be political.
“This sort of partisan divide is what has plagued Pennsylvanian politics for far too long,” said Rozzi, who is a child sex crime survivor. “Party politics must take a back seat to saving the lives of survivors of childhood sexual assault. Make no mistake: we must pass the Statute of Limitations reform. History will not judge us based on how many Democratic Party wins or Republican Party wins we achieve, but we will be judged based on what we did for the children of this commonwealth.”