S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                       582
                           1997-1998 Regular Sessions
                              I N  A S S E M B L Y
                                   (Prefiled)
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                                 January 8, 1997
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    Introduced  by  M. of A. KATZ, CONNELLY, LENTOL, HARENBERG, SCHIMMINGER,
      DINOWITZ -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. CANESTRARI, COLMAN,  GALEF,
      GRANNIS, HOCHBERG, KAUFMAN, KEANE, LAFAYETTE, MEEKS, POLONETSKY, SCAR-
      BOROUGH,  WEISENBERG  --  read  once  and referred to the Committee on
      Codes
    AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to extend-
      ing the statute of limitations for certain sex offense cases
      The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
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    bly, do enact as follows:
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 1    Section 1. The civil practice law and rules is amended by adding a new
 2  section 214-e to read as follows:
 3      214-e.  Actions based on childhood sexual abuse or exploitation. 1.
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 4  All claims or causes of action brought by any  person  for  recovery  of
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 5  damages for injury or condition suffered as a result of childhood sexual
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 6  abuse  or  exploitation shall be commenced within three years of the act
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 7  alleged to have caused the injury or condition, or three years from  the
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 8  time of discovery by the injured party of both the injury and the causal
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 9  relationship  between  the  injury  and  the  childhood  sexual abuse or
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10  exploitation, whichever period expires later;  provided  that  the  time
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11  limit  for  commencement of an action under this section shall be tolled
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12  for an infant until the infant reaches the age of twenty-one  years  and
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13  provided further that in no event may a claim or cause of action brought
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14  pursuant  to  this  section  be  commenced  after  the injured party has
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15  reached thirty-five years of age.
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16    2. The injured party need not establish which  act,  in  a  series  of
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17  continuing  acts  of  childhood  sexual abuse or exploitation caused the
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18  injury or condition that is the subject of the suit. The  injured  party
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19  may compute the date of discovery from the date of discovery of the last
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20  act by the same perpetrator.
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     EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
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                          [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                               LBD01164-01-7
    A. 582                              2
 1    3.  The  knowledge  of  a custodial or noncustodial parent or guardian
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 2  shall not be imputed to an infant.
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 3    4.  As  used in this section, "childhood sexual abuse or exploitation"
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 4  means any act committed by the perpetrator  against  the  injured  party
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 5  which  act  occurred  when the injured party was an infant and which act
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 6  would have been proscribed by article one hundred thirty  of  the  penal
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 7  law,  or  which  act would have constituted incest as defined in section
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 8  255.25 of the penal law, or which act would have constituted the use  of
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 9  a  child  in  a  sexual  performance as defined in section 263.05 of the
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10  penal law, or which act would have violated any prior laws of this state
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11  of similar effect at the time the act was committed.
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12    5. This section applies to all causes of action commenced on or  after
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13  the  effective  date  of  this  section, regardless of when the cause of
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14  action arose.
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15     2. This act shall take effect immediately.