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Professor Charol Shakeshaft, a researcher at Hofstra University in Long Island, N.Y., and national expert on educator sexual abuse, provided expert testimony on behalf of the Colora-do Catholic Conference during the Feb. 2 hearing on House Bill 1088.
The bill would remove existing time limits for bringing criminal or civil lawsuits for childhood sexual abuse. It would apply to churches and private institutions, but not to public institutions, including schools.
Approved unanimously by the House Judiciary Committee, the bill will now go before the entire House.
Since 1988, Shakeshaft has conducted research related to sexual abuse in schools. She led a congressionally-mandated study on educator sexual misconduct released in 2004.
“Because of its carefully drawn sample and survey methodology, the report is the most accurate data on educator sexual misconduct (available),” she told the House Judiciary Committee.
Among her findings:
• Some 767,000 students are enrolled in Colorado in grades K-12 in public schools and 56,000 in private or independent schools; of these, 54,000 public school students are likely to have been sexually exploited in a physical manner by an adult employed in the school by the time they reach their senior year of high school.
• Adding pornography, exposure and other types of sexual misconduct, the number increases to 77,000 public school students.
• The number of Colorado public school students who experience educator sexual misconduct is larger than the number of all students who merely attend private/independent schools in Colorado and four times the number of Colorado students in Catholic schools.
“Educator sexual misconduct is a significant problem,” Shakeshaft said. “If we want to stop sexual abuse of children by trusted others, legal responses must all target all sexual abuse of all children by all trusted others, not just clergy. The law must cover every institution where children are served.”
Studies have shown, Shakeshaft said, that when legislative bills to combat sex abuse in districts are introduced, schools — the areas where abuse occurs most often — are often not included, using the tactic that the problem will be dealt with in another bill.
“In fact, (public authorities) never do this,” Shakeshaft asserted. “We never go back and actually target the place where most children are sexually abused.”
She urged the lawmakers to not let that happen.
“Make sure that … people who are abused by public school teachers also can take advantage of an increased statute of limitations.”
