Bill > A00363

This bill, known as the Child Sexual Abuse Reform Act, makes several changes to laws concerning child sexual abuse. It eliminates or extends statutes of limitations, which are time limits for bringing legal action, for certain sex offenses against children, meaning victims may have more time to report or pursue legal cases. The bill also expands reporting requirements for cases of child abuse and maltreatment, ensuring that more instances are brought to the attention of authorities. Additionally, it broadens the scope of the central child abuse and maltreatment register, which is a database used to track reports of child abuse and neglect, making it a more comprehensive resource for child protection efforts. Specifically, it allows for prosecution of hindering prosecution charges related to child sexual offenses at any time, clarifies that "person" includes nonprofit corporations, extends criminal liability for aiding in offenses to include concealing them, and expands the definition of clergy members who provide healthcare to be included in certain sexual offense provisions. The bill also creates a new felony offense of "endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree" for conduct injurious to a child's welfare that violates specific sex offense laws, and reclassifies an existing offense as "endangering the welfare of a child in the second degree." It also revises the defense for endangering the welfare of a child to apply to both first and second-degree offenses. Furthermore, the bill amends laws to ensure that when a report of child abuse or maltreatment is made to the statewide central register, and the alleged perpetrator cannot be a subject of a report but the acts may constitute a crime or immediate threat, the information is conveyed to law enforcement and other relevant officials. Finally, it extends the statute of limitations for civil actions related to sexual assault of a child to six years after the disability (like infancy) ceases and revives previously time-barred claims for sexual assault or abuse of a child, allowing them to be brought within three years of the bill's effective date, with a provision that such revived claims cannot include confidentiality clauses.