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the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah, and West Virginia. Independent corroboration: The corroboration of an independent party is required only in Alabama, Arkansas (if the victim consented and is at least 16), California (if the victim consented and is of legal age), and Illinois (if the testimony is not clear and convincing). Penalties for Incest The penalties for the crime of incest vary from state to state. • Indiana—imprisonment of up to 18 months, plus additional time for aggravating circumstances, or minus time for mitigating circumstances; a fine of less than $1,000. • Delaware—imprisonment of up to 2 years; a fine of not more than $1,000 • Kansas—imprisonment of 2 to 10 years. • Illinois—imprisonment of 4 to 15 years. • Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana (if uncle-niece or auntnephew incest), Missouri, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming—imprisonment of up to 5 years. • Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana (if other than uncle-niece or aunt-nephew incest), Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin— imprisonment of 5 years and up. • South Carolina—imprisonment of 10 years and up. Civil Remedies Many victims don't want to put their abuser in jail. Some want financial restitution for their therapy and for other consequences of the abuse. Others just want a written apology or a court order compelling the abuser to get therapy. Enter civil remedies. Civil remedies give victims a chance to tell their story in court and to be awarded punitive damages for the pain and injury suffered. For many victims, just lodging the complaint gives them a sense of empowerment that helps them heal. Statutes of limitations generally are reckoned from the date of injury and run for a fixed period, often three years. But in child-sexual-abuse cases, the statute of limitations is often more flexible. Thanks to the dedicated work of lawyers such as Shari Karney and Page 54 of 56
Mary Williams of California, these statutes in some states begin when the victim remembers the abuse. The phenomenon is called delayed discovery and is based on the fact that someone who has no memory of an act cannot complain about it. ------------------------------------- Reform legislation is imperative if we are to protect children against incest and sexual abuse. We urge our readers to send this letter, or some version of it, to their political representatives at the state level, including governors and legislators. Dear The children of our state need your help. According to the most reliable studies of the incidence of incest and child sexual abuse in the United States, at least one out of three girls and one out of five boys will be sexually abused before the age of 18. Research has shown that 89 percent of these assaults are committed by someone the child knows, trusts, or loves. In spite of the crippling damage done to victims, incest often carries lighter penalties than other child sex-abuse crimes. I urge that all the laws in our state pertaining to incest and to any and all sexual assaults against children be reviewed and strengthened, and ask you to take the following steps as soon as possible. 1. Expand the definition of incest in our state in order to broaden the application of criminal statutes. Most states require vaginal penetration and a close blood relationship to establish incest in a criminal prosecution. The definition should be expanded to include any other acts of sexual assault by a parent or family member and any and all sexual assaults by any care giver—including stepparent, adoptive parent, and guardian of either sex—or any other person in a position of authority. 2. Increase criminal penalties for incest and child sexual abuse. Incest and sexual-abuse victims suffer long-lasting psychological and physical trauma. Penalties should be at least equal to those for capital crimes, and minimum sentences for perpetrators should be set by law. Persons convicted of incest and child sexual abuse should be denied custody and/or visitation privileges. 3. Abolish or extend statutes of limitations for civil and criminal cases pertaining to incest and child sexual abuse. Some states have recently extended their statute of limitations for civil cases (see the California Code of Civil Procedure, Section 340.1). At least seven states have no statute of limitations in criminal cases, and legislation to abolish such statutes is pending in ten others. Because the victims are children and because they may be terrorized into silence and/or may repress memories of sexual assaults for many years (studies have shown the average age of discovery to be between 29 and 49), statutes of limitations should be based on the special circumstances of the crime or case. I ask you to reform our laws and give our state prosecutors and child victims a real chance for justice. Sincerely, Page 55 of 56
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Return to www.LongBeachALIVE.org LE
Page 3 and 4: "I take responsibility for what hap
Page 5 and 6: eaches for me and pulls me down. I
Page 7 and 8: Every morning, under the guise of w
Page 9 and 10: "What happened to me was bad," says
Page 11 and 12: compulsive masturbation, precocious
Page 13 and 14: PTSD Also prevalent among incest vi
Page 15 and 16: Child incest victims often become a
Page 17 and 18: greatest detail. One year later Goo
Page 19 and 20: Although we want to believe that we
Page 21 and 22: loved ones had abruptly dumped me!
Page 23 and 24: generally and direct them toward th
Page 25 and 26: thought that their mother was menta
Page 27 and 28: mental illness. Unlike the seductio
Page 29 and 30: The interior is depressing, monoton
Page 31 and 32: This opinion is echoed by Cynthia F
Page 33 and 34: hired Gary Stickel, Ph.D., an inter
Page 35 and 36: the ability of the children to tell
Page 37 and 38: fenders, continues as needed for as
Page 39 and 40: I am on my way, reluctantly, to int
Page 41 and 42: urden of life," writes T. Thomas ps
Page 43 and 44: 100 percent on the offender. If the
Page 45 and 46: suggested that she join Alcoholics
Page 47 and 48: esponsible for their actions long a
Page 49 and 50: Karney: I think there's a lot of em
Page 51 and 52: their daughter for a period of year
Page 53: Marital discord: Forty-three percen
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