Critics blast bill that would extend statute of limitations in sex abuse civil suits

SACRAMENTO — School districts and insurers came out swinging Tuesday against a bill that would extend the civil statute of limitations on childhood sexual abuse claims, warning it could bankrupt schools and make thousands of institutions uninsurable.

The Assembly Judiciary Committee passed AB 218 by an 8-2 vote Tuesday. The bill’s author, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, told the committee current law has not been a sufficient deterrent.

“Institutions themselves have been complacent and have been involved in cover-ups,” Gonzalez said. “As a result, more kids have been abused. It’s time it stops.”

The bill would redefine childhood sexual abuse as childhood sexual assault. It would also extend the statute of limitations for victims to bring claims from age 26 to their 40th birthday and give a three-year extension on past claims in which litigation hasn’t been finalized.

Finally, it allows for “treble damages against a defendant who is found to have covered up the sexual assault of a minor.” This is a key provision opponents want removed from AB 218.

“This component will result in billions of dollars in costs to schools to settle claims that are decades old and occurred under school boards and administrations that are long gone,” testified Sara Bachez, assistant executive director for governmental affairs for the California Association of School Business Officials. “We cannot sustain the risk of claims that stretch back in time into history.”

According to a committee analysis of the bill, the Legislature amended aspects of the statute of limitations rules in childhood sexual abuse cases several times since 1998. This includes a similar extension of potential criminal penalties until the victim’s 40th birthday, SB 926, signed in 2014.

In 2008, SB 640 exempted civil claims for childhood sexual abuse from the six-month limit contained in the Government Tort Claims Act.

Testifying for the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of California, lobbyist John Norwood said the treble damages provision would give a major advantage to new litigants over ones who have already settled their cases.

He added that another change to the statute could make it difficult to insure “40,000 daycare facilities in California, over 3,000 private schools, over 1,000 school districts” and other institutions.

“If we do it again, it sends the wrong signal to the insurance industry where basically it’s a situation where we’ll never get off of risk,” Norwood said.

These arguments found an audience with Gov. Jerry Brown, who vetoed multiple statute of limitations bills before leaving office in January.

Brown vetoed a largely identical bill by Gonzalez last year. In an unusually long veto message, Brown said he was rejecting AB 3120 in part because the Legislature had repeatedly revisited the statute of limitations in these cases in recent years.

“There comes a time when an individual or organization should be secure in the reasonable expectation that past acts are indeed in the past and not subject to further lawsuits,” Brown wrote.

But AB 218 may find more support with Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is three decades younger than Brown and seen as more progressive.

Testifying on behalf of the bill, childhood sexual assault survivor and victims’ advocate Joelle Casteix made an explicitly generational appeal. “We have seen a complete change in our culture in how we view childhood sexual assault,” Casteix said. “It is time to acknowledge that cultural shift.”

The bill is backed by numerous law enforcement and victims’ advocacy groups as well as the Consumer Attorneys of California.