The Missouri House of Representatives has passed a bill that would give adults who were sexually abused as children more time to file personal injury lawsuits against their abusers.
House Bill 1664 would raise the statute of limitations from 10 to 20 years for these victims. It’s sponsored by State Rep. Brian Seitz, R-Branson.
“The current legislation dealing with statute of limitations increases for adult victims of child sexual abuse has to pass this session,” Seitz said before Wednesday’s vote. “To vote ‘no’ is a slap in the face.”
His bill would also lower the legal deadline for filing personal injury lawsuits and civil claims against insurance companies for uninsured or underinsured drivers. The bill reduces the time limit from five to three years.
No one spoke against increasing the deadline for sex abuse cases, but dozens of Democrats opposed shrinking the deadline for personal injury suits, including State Rep. Will Jobe, D-Independence.
“First off, there’s a fair amount of time that people have to wait after the injury occurs to actually figure out what the injury is, to get the treatment that they need and to get back to a place where they can bring a lawsuit,” Jobe said.
Thirty-nine lawmakers, mostly Democrats, voted “present” instead of “no” so as not to oppose the section of the bill that raises the statute of limitations for child sex abuse victims. The total vote count was 95-12-39.
The bill now goes to the Missouri Senate for more debate.
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