Democrats in the United States Congress have joined survivors of the sexual abuse case on Capitol Hill to introduce legislation to end the statute of limitations and restrictions on jurisdiction in civil sexual abuse cases. At last.
The move comes less than two weeks after the Justice Department issued many redactions related to Epstein, as mandated by the bipartisan Epstein Records Transparency Act.
“When the truth about Jeffrey Epstein finally started to come out, when the world finally started to hear his stories, the law often said, ‘Sorry, it’s too late. The deadline to file your case has passed,'” said , the Senate Minority Leader, introducing the legislation on the Senate floor Tuesday.
She added that the bill – called Virginia’s Law after Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s best-known accusers – “will change that, because justice for abuse victims should have no expiration date.”
In September 2022, Congress passed a law eliminating the statute of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse, previously set at 28 years or 10 years after the incident, but the change did not apply to any crimes committed before that date.
Schumer and Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez, who is sponsoring the bill in the House of Representatives, were joined at the US Capitol by Giuffre’s family, the anti-human trafficking coalition World Without Exploitation and attorney Sigrid McCawley, who represented Giuffre and other survivors of Epstein’s abuse.
In addition to eliminating the statute of limitations, Leger Fernandez said the Virginia law “clarifies that traffickers cannot escape liability by committing abuses in another jurisdiction. Prosecution cannot be avoided by simply sending predators and victims on a plane to a private island, a mansion in Florida, or a ranch in New Mexico.” Leger Fernández represents New Mexico, where Epstein, outside of Santa Fe.
The disgraced financier, who was a convicted sex offender, died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
“Inspire and empower”
The legislators were accompanied by Sky and Amanda Roberts, brother and sister-in-law of Giuffre, who died by suicide last year, but who previously left , recounting what happened.
“Virginia’s dream was to inspire and empower survivors to come forward,” Sky Roberts said through tears. In response to a later question at the press conference, he asked to “answer questions before our Congress.” Schumer said he agreed.
Survivor advocates added that trafficking survivors often need many years to report the abuse they suffered.
Although the Justice Department has released millions of pages of documents related to Epstein, lawmakers, including Schumer, have called for the release of more files, which Schumer said number in the millions.
