BILL NUMBER: S8855
SPONSOR: FAHY
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to endangering
the welfare of a child
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill amends the criminal procedure law to toll the statute of limi-
tations for a grooming a child for sexual purposes until that child
reaches 23 years of age, or until the offense is reported to a law
enforcement agency, whichever is sooner.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends Criminal Procedure Law § 30.10 to add endangering the
welfare of a child to the list of offenses that toll the statute of
limitation until the victim is 23 years old. Section 2 provides an
effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Grooming is the preparatory stage of child sexual abuse undertaken to
gain the trust or compliance of a child, and to establish the child's
secrecy or silence. It can often appear to be genuine, caring behavior
or interest in the child by a teacher or a coach or another trusted
individual who actually intends to facilitate sexual contact with the
child.
Children who have been groomed may come to love the person grooming them
since grooming often involves favoritism and other behaviors the child
perceives as positive. Children, especially children who are otherwise
vulnerable, may not recognize the behavior for what it is until they are
older, or until the situation escalates to sexual contact. Young people
may be too immature and have too little life experience to understand
they have been groomed. This bill "tolls" the existing 2-year statute of
limitations for grooming until the victim is 23 years old or the offense
is reported to law enforcement, whichever is sooner. Under current law,
a 13-year-old who is groomed must file a complaint against an adult who
groomed them by the age of 15. In contrast, this bill allows a child to
file a complaint until the age of 25. By doing so, it prevents serial
offenders from remaining in place as trusted adults in schools, on
sports teams and in scouting troops.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S8855: 30.10 criminal procedure law, 30.10(3) criminal procedure law