Two proposed bills aiming to reform the civil statute of limitations in Missouri for child sexual abuse and trafficking claims have stalled.
The bills in question are companion bills SJR-93 and HJR-130, which propose a choice to Missouri voters about future legislation on child sexual abuse and trafficking cases. If passed, these bills would allow Missourians to vote in the next election cycle whether to amend the state’s Constitution to allow the legislature to enact laws that allow survivors to make civil claims retroactively.
By itself, the bill would not amend the Constitution or change the current legal landscape for survivors. It simply aims to give voters a choice about what might be possible in the future.
But after being presented earlier this year, the bills have yet to be scheduled for presentation to the Senate and House floors, effectively stalling the process.
Several sexual abuse survivors and other advocates have testified in support of the bills at different stages of the legislative process, including Kanakuk abuse survivor Logan Yandell, who has faced challenges in his multi-year litigation against the camp due to Missouri’s current statute of limitations.
Another survivor also testified in support of the bill, sharing his name and story publicly for the first time after being silenced by a nondisclosure agreement for 25 years: 34-year-old Connor Ward said he was groomed and molested in Missouri when he was “under 10 years old.” This legislation reform, he said, will protect the voices of children who needed time to process their trauma adequately before engaging in litigation.
“On average,” Ward explained, “it takes 23.9 years for a child to come and tell someone about their abuse, and a third of individuals never tell anybody. If that’s the case, why do we put timelines on children to act on the abuse they encountered? Why are we making it harder for children who went through such horrendous acts to come forward and heal?”
In an Instagram video detailing the status of the bills, Elizabeth Phillips explained the frustration she and other survivors and advocates are currently feeling.
“This is a baby step. SJR-93, HJR-130 companion bills are just trying to give the people of Missouri a voice on if they want their Legislature to be able to enact statute of limitation reform that protects the public, exposes hidden predators and provides due process, fair access to the courts for those who have been harmed in Missouri.”
According to statistics published by the National Children’s Alliance, 6,260 cases of child sexual abuse in Missouri were reported in 2023.
More than half of U.S. states or territories have pushed through legislation reforming statutes of limitations for civil child sexual abuse claims.
Cindy O’Laughlin, the Republican senator who serves as president pro-tempore of the state Senate, said in a recent Facebook post she prefers a different bill, HB-1664, which aims to keep a statute of limitations in place but extends it to 20 years.