The state Legislature is advancing a bill driven in part by prosecutors’ difficulty in pursuing sexual assault charges against Bill Cosby. SB 813 would eliminate the state’s ten-year statute of limitations on rape and child molestation charges. The bill’s author, Senator Connie Leyva of Chino, says it’s about justice for the victims.
“It comes down to how serious do we as a society consider rape. Do we consider it something that should be punishable when you have only two in 100 rapists that are convicted of a felony and spend anytime in prison? The other 98 percent are not punished?”
She says there is a delay factor among victims coming forward that is inherent in the crime of rape.
“We always want a victim of rape to come forward immediately so that their rapist can be prosecuted. But as we know and as study after study has shown women, mainly, who are raped – men too – (those) women don’t come forward because they’re shamed, there’s guilt. They don’t even know that what happened to them was not their fault.”
The bill passed the committee Tuesday after testimony by witnesses including lawyer Gloria Allred, who represents 30 accusers of Cosby. Senator Levya made her comments on 790 KABC’s McIntyre in the Morning Show with Doug McIntyre and Terri-Rae Elmer.
By Sandy Wells/City News Service