Legislators
introduced a bill Friday that would eliminate the civil statute for childhood
sexual assault cases that was met with bipartisan support.

Under current Wisconsin law, adults who were abused as
children must report the abuse before they reach the age of 35 in order to
press charges. Sen. Jullie Lassa, D-Stevens Point, and Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford,
introduced the Child Victims Act which, if passed, would allow charges to be
pressed against any child abuser, regardless of the victim’s current age.

Suder said there are about 39 million survivors of child
abuse in the United States, adding most victims of child abuse don't begin
coping with their traumatic experiences until the age of 18.

The FBI reports 90 percent of child abuse is never reported
to law enforcement and 30 percent of cases will never be reported to anyone —
including family and friends, according to Suder.

"The reason we're doing this is that we firmly believe there
should not be a statue of limitation when it comes to seeking justice against
child molesters," Suder said. "We truly believe that victims of these crimes
need more time."

Suder said the Child Victim Act is modeled after a similar
bill that passed unanimously in both houses in the Delaware State Legislature.

"We're working really closely with both state and national
organizations," Suder said. "We have a lot of backing from both state and
national groups, and once this is passed, we will put Wisconsin as a leader against
these crimes, and we'll be protecting our children."

University of Wisconsin social work professor Rosemarie
Carbino said there is an endless
number of reasons why children might not report their abuse, including the
children feeling the abuse is their fault, the situation could be embarrassing
for the children or the children may feel they are being disloyal to the
person, especially when the abuse is from an acquaintance.

"Most child abuse incidents are when the children are abused
from people they know, such as family members, friends of family members,
trusted friends of families," Carbino said. "Even sometimes they are asked not
to tell because there will be consequences … or at times the child can also be
threatened."

Removing the civil statute of limitations on childhood
sexual abuse cases would allow victims to expose their perpetrators, Lassa said
in a statement released Friday.

"The Child Victims
Act will allow victims of sexual abuse to have their day in court and keep
offenders from preying on other innocent children and hold them accountable for
their actions," Lassa said.