Earlier this week, Governor Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law that removes the statute of limitations for bringing criminal charges against minors who were sexually abused.

House District 20 Representative Ray Sorensen says the new law eliminates the 15 year period that child sex abuse victims had to report and have criminal charge brought before the abuser after they turned 18. Sorensen tells Raccoon Valley Radio he supported the bill in the House.

“It’s awful. A lot of these people (the victims), from what I understand, they live with this stuff, and they’ve buried it, and suppressed it for so long. A lot of times it takes like a conversation or something with a therapist many, many years later in order to kind of uncover something like this has happened. As long as there’s proof that something like that happened, I think that you should be prosecuted. We’ve got to start protecting our children (and) these child abusers need to be brought to justice.”

The new law took effect immediately after Governor Reynolds signed the bill on Wednesday. Iowa is now the 14th state to eliminate the statute of limitations for child sex abuse crimes. Click the link below to see Senate File 562.

https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=89&ba=SF562