Bill Sponsor Sen. Angel Charley, D-Acoma

By NATHAN BROWN
The Santa Fe New Mexican

A bill that would remove the statute of limitations for some of the most serious acts of child sex abuse passed the state Senate overwhelmingly Friday, with some recent events providing fodder for supporters’ arguments.

“The last time we looked at this law, we didn’t know what was happening at Zorro Ranch,” said Sen. Angel Charley, D-Acoma, who sponsored the bill, referring to the southern Santa Fe County property once owned by Jeffrey Epstein. “The last time we looked at this law, we didn’t know what we know now.”

Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup, pointed to the District Attorney’s Office in McKinley County, where a KRQE-TV investigation found dozens of serious cases, including child rapes, that went unprosecuted in recent years. Muñoz led a push last year to defund District Attorney Bernadine Martin’s office; Attorney General Raúl Torrez is currently seeking to remove her from office.

“Maybe we can’t go in reverse, but here forward it’ll help people to heal,” Muñoz said of Senate Bill 41.

The measure, which passed 40-1, would get rid of the statute of limitations for second-degree criminal sexual contact of a minor. Under current law the offense carries a six-year statute of limitations, like other second-degree felonies.

“Sexual violence does not operate on a clean timeline,” Charley said, adding factors such as power imbalances, trauma and family pressure can lead to crimes not being reported until years later.

“Children often do not have the language to describe what happened to them,” she said. “They may be harmed by someone they depend on. They may not understand it was abuse until years later.”

Sen. Cindy Nava, D-Bernalillo, noted there are even greater barriers to reporting “for immigrant survivors and others living at the margins.”

Abusers, she said, use a person’s legal status or lack of knowledge of English to “enforce silence.” And many offenders, she said, are serial predators who harm others.

“When we allow time limits to erase accountability, we don’t just fail past victims, we endanger future ones,” she said.

Sen. Moe Maestas, D-Albuquerque, a former prosecutor, cast the only vote in opposition. If the law is changed, he said, prosecutors will be faced with more years-old cases that are difficult to prove, taxing their already-scarce resources.

“I know where you’re coming from, I appreciate it, but in the practical world it’s not going to lead to good results,” Maestas said.

Second-degree criminal sexual contact of a minor is defined as certain types of sexual abuse of any child under 13, or of a child ages 13 to 18 when certain aggravating factors are met, such as the use of force causing injury or when the perpetrator is in a position of authority.

As originally written, the bill would have removed the statute of limitations for numerous other sexual offenses. It was amended in the Senate Judiciary Committee to narrow its scope, disappointing several senators.

Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, D-Albuquerque, said a rapist should have to spend the rest of their life worrying about whether they will be caught, just like a murderer.

“I have personally cried when the statute of limitations passed for someone I loved who was raped,” she said.

Sen. Nicole Tobiassen, R-Albuquerque, also expressed disappointment the bill had been watered down but said it would still do some good. She noted cases that have been reported recently of sexual abuse of children in the custody of the state Children, Youth and Families Department.

“I guarantee not a person in this room is without a friend or family member or acquaintance who has been raped,” she said.