House Committee considers lifting statute of limitations in child sex abuse civil cases

The Missouri House is working early in the 2020 legislative session on a bill to remove the statute of limitations on civil actions stemming from child sexual abuse.

Representative Sheila Solon (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

The legislature in 2018 lifted the statute of limitations on criminal prosecution of such cases, but the limit on civil cases remains.  It only allows civil actions to be brought before the plaintiff turns 31; or within three years of the discovery that an injury or illness was caused by childhood sexual abuse.     House Bill 1411 would eliminate that provision, but would not allow the filing of civil suits in cases for which the statute of limitations has already expired.

“It make sense that since the statute of limitations has been removed for criminal it should also be removed for civil,” said Representative Sheila Solon (R-St. Joseph), the sponsor of HB 1411. “For us to have a law on the books that has constraints in it on when a victim has to be brave, come forward, and stop fleeing these memories but get in fight mode, isn’t right.”

Solon said survivors who want to sue perpetrators are not just after money.

“Most victims who come forward and file a civil lawsuit, it’s because they’re trying to protect other children.  They want the perpetrator to be held accountable for their actions,” said Solon.

The House Committee on Children and Families heard from Bryan Bacon, who was abused in 1985 by a priest who was the assistant principal at Vianney High School in St. Louis.  Bacon’s memories of the abuse resurfaced after the statute of limitations, then still in place, prevented a criminal prosecution, but he was able to file a civil suit.  He did so after learning that the priest had other victims, and after officials denied any knowledge of abuse.

“I knew that I had to file a lawsuit, and for one primary reason; that if Brother Mueller had abused two students in 1969 and 1970 … in 1985 at Vianney, myself, there were certainly other victims between those two time periods,” said Bacon.  “My ability to file a civil suit against the Marianist order and conduct discovery resulted in the ability of many other victims of Brother Mueller to come forward and begin their healing journey.  After I filed suit an additional 80 victims came forward.”

Julie Donelon, president of the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault (MOCSA) in Kansas City, told lawmakers survivors of child sexual assault often repress memories of the event only to recall them when they are older and better able to deal with the trauma.  She said survivors should be allowed to file civil suits at any time to benefit other survivors, but also to offset the costs that can come from dealing with abuse – costs that often fall on the survivor and the state.

“By placing time limits on a survivor’s ability to seek a civil remedy for their abuse we are placing the burden back on those survivors while allowing the perpetrators to move forward without ever having to take accountability,” said Donelon.

No one testified against HB 1411 while several advocacy groups testified in support of it.  Those included Missouri KidsFirst, represented by Public Policy Director Jessica Seitz.

“It grants more access to the justice system for victims of child sexual abuse.”

The Committee approved Solon’s bill and sent it to a second, where it awaits a hearing.

VIDEO: Legislation would give chance at parole to man serving 241 years in prison and others like him

An effort by state legislators to give a chance at parole to a man sentenced to 241 years in prison has led to a broader effort to offer parole to all Missouri inmates facing similar situations.

Judge Evelyn Baker and Representatives Nick Schroer and Barbara Washington talk about a legislative effort to give a chance at parole to Bobby Bostic, who Baker sentenced to 241 years in prison in 1995. (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Bobby Bostic committed a series of crimes in 1995 when he was 16 and was given a series of consecutive sentences.  A 2010 Supreme Court ruling that people under 18 who did not kill anyone could not be sentenced to life without parole doesn’t apply to him because he was not sentenced to life.  He would not be eligible for parole until the age of 112.  All judicial avenues to offer Bostic an earlier release have been exhausted.

Last year more than 100 state lawmakers signed a letter to Governor Mike Parson (R) asking him to consider Bostic’s petition for clemency.  They joined those victimized in Bostic’s crimes and the judge who sentenced him in saying Bostic has reformed himself, and deserves a chance at parole.

O’Fallon representative Nick Schroer (R) has worked to bring attention to Bostic’s situation and has led the effort to drum up support.  He said he knows that the Parson administration is sifting through thousands of clemency requests.  While that process continues, he has filed House Bill 2201, which aims to give people sentenced to long terms and life as a juvenile a chance at parole.

“2201 fixes the technicality that prevents Bobby and others like him in this situation the ability to obtain the relief that the Supreme Court envisioned [in that 2010 ruling],” said Schroer.

Kansas City representative Barbara Washington (D) has also spearheaded this effort and is a cosponsor of HB 2201.  She said it could help others besides Bostic.

“We must think about what we’re doing with our juveniles.  We must understand that a 16 year-old who grew up in Bobby’s situation; who didn’t have anyone to look up to, who didn’t have a community that made sure he went to school, didn’t have a mentor to make sure that he got a job, who didn’t have teachers who looked at him as a good kid that was going down the wrong road.  It is important and imperative that we pass House Bill 2201 so that we make sure that no other juveniles suffer this fate,” said Washington.

Judge Evelyn Baker handed Bobby his 241-year sentence and now wants to see him given a chance at freedom.

“He’s written books, he writes poetry, he is trying to help as many people as he can in a confined environment.  He can do so much more to help others if we let him out.  I think justice cries for him to be released,” said Judge Baker.  “We talk about rehabilitation.  He is the epitome of a rehabilitated child who became a man in the true sense of the word ‘man.’”

Schroer said he does not know how many other people in situations like Bostic’s are in Missouri prisons and might benefit from passage of this bill, but he does believe there are others.

“This one case is the tip of the spear, so to speak, where we now see there are these technical issues and other issues preventing people from getting the relief when they are fully rehabilitated, so I think that we need to go forward with House Bill 2201,” said Schroer.

He said from the standpoint of being fiscally conservative, the more people who have been rehabilitated and therefore can be released from Missouri prisons, the better for the state and its economy.

“We are wasting more money locking people up that could be contributing to society as solid Missourians once again,” said Schroer.

Schroer is hopeful his bill will be assigned to a committee and receive a hearing soon.

Earlier stories:

Judge who sentenced man to 241 years meets with lawmakers seeking his clemency

State lawmakers to ask governor for clemency for man sentenced as teen to 241 years

VIDEO: Parent speaks about bipartisan legislation on restraint and seclusion of students

A bipartisan effort to regulate when students can be restrained or isolated in Missouri schools is off to a quick start in the 2020 legislative session.

Representative Dottie Bailey (at podium) points to photos of some of the rooms that have been used in Missouri schools to isolate students. (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Representatives Dottie Bailey (R-Eureka) and Ian Mackey (D-St. Louis) have filed identical bills that would ban the use of seclusion or restraint except when students, teachers, or staff face safety concerns.  House Bills 1568 (Bailey) and 1569 (Mackey) would also require that when such measures are used, all parties involved except students write a report on the incident, and require that parents or guardians be notified that the measures were applied to their student.

Mackey first filed the legislation last year, after media reports brought to light the use of those measures in Missouri.  He said in the last year he has seen “tiny, empty closets built and designed solely for the purpose of isolating small children,” in Missouri schools.

“If a teacher was notified on Wednesday morning by a child that that child’s parent had locked them in a closet and would not let them out, what would that teacher do?  I can tell you as somebody who spent nearly 8 years in the classroom teaching, myself, as a mandated reporter I would make an initial call to the [child abuse and neglect hotline],” said Mackey.  “Yet in our schools right now in this state, that’s happening day in and day out.”

House Bill 1568 will be heard Tuesday morning by the House Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education.  This afternoon, Mackey and Bailey spoke to the media joined by parents who say their children have been restrained or secluded in an unacceptable manner.

They also displayed pictures of the some of the isolation rooms they have seen in Missouri schools, including one in the school that Shawan Daniels said her son was put in, in a Columbia school.

“Some kids have learning disabilities.  I don’t feel that a kid with learning disabilities should be put in this room because he acts a certain kind of way, because he’s not able to pick up on learning,” said Daniels.

Representatives Dottie Bailey (speaking), Ian Mackey (left) and Chuck Basye (center of photo) are joined by some parents who say their students were improperly restrained or secluded in Missouri schools. (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Daniels said she learned that her son had been restrained about three hours after the incident.

“He came home and told me that his arm was hurting.  Maybe 30 minutes later the teachers called and said that Antwan had been in an incident and they had to put him under restraint and the time that they gave me he was put in a restraint as like 1:00, and he makes it home around 3:45,” said Daniels.

The legislation would require districts to enact policies limiting the use of restraints and isolation, but does not propose penalties for violating those limitations.  Both representatives say they are open to adding language to create penalties.

“It’s an open conversation,” said Mackey.  “It’s reasonable to say that there would be a way for [the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education] to review, to have a disciplinary system in place for reports that are made about teachers who misuse these rooms.  [Teaching is] a licensed profession.  Most licensed professions have disciplinary measures that at the greatest extent would cause your license to be either suspended or put on probation, or revoked.  I think that’s something we should look at,” said Mackey.

He said Illinois has had the same language he filed last year in its laws for 20 years but it was not being followed.

The lawmakers are enthused that this legislation is moving quickly in the first days of the legislative session that began last week.  They said it shows House leadership considers this an important issue.

“I think it’s awesome.  I think it’s great,” said Bailey.   “We hope it’s fast-tracked … kids and safety isn’t a bipartisan issue.  It’s just a human issue.  I couldn’t sleep at night if I heard this [when it was proposed last year] and I didn’t do anything about it, and I think Ian feels the same, so I’m thrilled to death to work with him … and to start out the session like this is great.”

The committee could vote on the legislation any time after the hearing is held on it.  Two House Committees approved Mackey’s proposal last year.

Earlier story:  House to consider restrictions on student restraint/seclusion in Missouri public schools

VIDEO House proposals would address HIV spread and stigma, abuse of IV and prescription drugs

The Missouri House again will weigh bills aimed at fighting intravenous and prescription drug abuse, as well as a bipartisan effort to fight a stigma against those infected with HIV.

Representative Holly Rehder (R-Sikeston) has prefiled legislation to legalize programs that give drug abusers clean needles, and for the seventh consecutive year has filed legislation to make statewide a monitoring program for drug prescriptions.  She and Representative Tracy McCreery (D-St. Louis) have also filed bills to change Missouri law that criminalizes exposing someone to HIV.

Supporters say needle exchange programs have been operating in the state for years, and don’t entice people to start abusing intravenous drugs.  Rather, they say, they ensure abusers aren’t transmitting diseases through dirty needles and it puts them in contact with medical providers who can facilitate getting them into treatment.

Several such programs already operate in Missouri, though they are doing so against the letter of the law.  House Bill 1486 would exempt those programs from the crime of “unlawful delivery of drug paraphernalia.”

House Bill 1693, dubbed the “Narcotics Control Act,” would make statewide a prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) like that maintained by the St. Louis County Health Department.  That program covers about 87-percent of Missouri’s population, in just over half its counties.  Rehder said that program has had great results but the whole state must be covered.

A PDMP is a database that physicians and pharmacists could use to track pill purchases and pharmacy visits, in an effort to find those who are potentially filling multiple prescriptions to support abuse.  Such proposals have met stiff opposition in past years, generally from those who say creating such a database would put sensitive medical information in danger of being breached.

House Bills 1691 (Rehder) and 1692 (McCreery) would reduce or eliminate the penalties for knowingly exposing someone with HIV.  Backers say the current penalties are too steep – the punishment for knowingly exposing to HIV someone who contracts the disease is on par with those for murder, rape, and forcible kidnapping.

Supporters say the harsh penalties are actually helping the spread of HIV by discouraging people from getting tested.

Both bills have been filed for the session that begins January 8.

Reps. Rehder and McCreery and advocates discuss the legislation in the video below:

House to consider restrictions on student restraint/seclusion in Missouri public schools

The Missouri House will consider limitations on when the state’s public schools can restrain students or put them in seclusion.

Representative Dottie Bailey (photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Two bills were prefiled for the session that begins next month, one by Representative Dottie Bailey (R-Eureka) and one by Representative Ian Mackey (D-St. Louis).  Missouri is one of 11 states that has no protective laws for students with disabilities.  It also has no law protecting against seclusion or restraint.

Bailey, who will be the vice-chair of the House Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education, said she was disturbed by the stories she heard when Mackey presented his legislation during the 2019 session.

Bailey said she was surprised to learn how restraint and seclusion were being applied.

“It’s very archaic or medieval, whatever words you want to use,” said Bailey.

Mackey said advocates brought the issue to him and when he researched it, the stories he read were alarming, and many of them come from Missouri.

“I began to research it and quickly found story after story after story of children who had been locked in these rooms, these closets, without their parents knowing, for extended periods of time, for multiple days, in every part of our state,” said Mackey.  “It immediately became clear to me that it was an urgent issue and that it was an issue that we should address right away.”

Representative Ian Mackey (photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Bills 1568 (Bailey) and 1569 (Mackey) would ban the use of seclusion and restraint except when there are health or safety concerns for students, teachers, or staff; require that when restraint or seclusion are used that all parties involved except students write a report on the incident; and require the notification of parents or guardians of the incident within 24 hours.  It would allow parents or guardians access to all reports on the incident and the right to a meeting to review it, and allow them to file a complaint with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Bailey said just as important is that the legislation would put into state law a definition of seclusion and restraint.

“When you have a definition or there’s no definition at all, well anything goes.  Putting someone in a room for three hours, well you can just call that a ‘time out,’ because nothing is defined, so we’re going to put some structured guidance around that,” said Bailey.

Both lawmakers say there could be times when seclusion or restraint is necessary, so their bills don’t aim to bar it altogether.

“I think that there are a few stories that exist of children who can at some points be particularly violent, and obviously if a child is being violent and posing a direct, serious physical safety threat to others around them, then that’s an instance where that child needs to be removed and that’s what our bill allows for,” said Mackey.  “What we see happening … is kids are just doing kid things … they’re not exhibiting a threat to the extent that would require them to be locked away, and again without their parents even being notified.”

Two House committees passed Mackey’s legislation in 2019.  He and Bailey are optimistic their bipartisan effort can get a bill through the legislative process in 2020.

The new session begins January 8.

Texting while driving ban for all drivers proposed for 2020 legislative session

The House of Representatives will consider extending Missouri’s ban on texting while driving to drivers of all ages in the legislative session that begins January 8.

Representative David Evans (photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Missouri law only bans texting while driving for those 21 and younger.  House Bill 1290 would extend that ban to all drivers.  It would also allow local jurisdictions to enact their own laws and ordinances on the use of hand-held electronic communications devices.

Representative David Evans (R-West Plains) filed HB 1290.  He said it simply doesn’t make sense to ban only younger drivers from texting while driving.

“Being one of the older people with grandchildren I can honestly say my grandkids learned to use computers and start texting and typing as young as 2 or 3 whereas I’m still struggling to do so, and it would distract me far more to text and drive than I’m sure it would most 16, 17, 18 year olds today,” said Evans.

Evans said he wanted to propose what would be the “least intrusive” expansion of the texting while driving law.  After reviewing past legislation on the matter he chose to offer the same language as 2019’s House Bill 896, filed by Representative Rory Rowland (D-Independence).

“It’s really a safety issue.  It’s important to me as a parent, it’s important to me as a grandfather.  As a former judge, you see so many of these cases these days of folks that are distracted by driving.  One of the most time-consuming and distracting things you can do is look away and type,” said Evans.  “It’s an activity we need to regulate in some fashion.  I’m not going overboard here but simply saying hey, that extreme activity of texting and driving is something you’ve got to be more careful about and [the bill would] save lives and save accidents.”

The Department of Transportation backs extending the texting while driving ban to all drivers.  Nicole Hood, State Highway Safety and Traffic Engineer, said that would make roads safer for drivers and MoDOT workers.  The Department reports that since 2014, cell phone-related crashes in Missouri have increased by 31-percent, reaching nearly 2,500 last year.

“We continue to have record numbers of traffic fatalities.  For the past three years Missouri alone has had over 900 people that have been killed in traffic crashes and every one of those deaths affects a family and a community,” said Hood.  “Distracted driving, it can be a leading cause of some of these crashes, and using those cell phones and texting can definitely be a contributing factor.”

Similar legislation has received little or no attention from the legislature in recent years.  Evans said he will talk to House leaders soon in hopes of getting this bill some traction.

“It will save lives and it will save accidents, so I think it’s a good thing and I think leadership will see that,” Evans said.

Violations of Missouri’s texting while driving ban result in two-point violations against a driver’s license.  Accumulation of points can result in a license being suspended or revoked.