SB 228 — "Child Victim Act of 2019"

Summary

A BILL to be entitled an Act to provide greater protections for individuals who have suffered from childhood sexual abuse; to amend Article 2 of Chapter 3 of Title 9 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to specific periods of limitation, so as to extend the statute of limitations for actions for childhood sexual abuse under certain circumstances; to provide for retroactive claims for childhood sexual abuse under certain circumstances; to clarify existing law; to revise and provide for definitions; to provide for a short title; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

Bill Text

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This bill amends 1 section(s) of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated: O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33.1.

• O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33.1

  2017 23 23 two 23 two → LC 0 64 g by compu bited in Co tion 1 ion of sodom ed in Code n 16- prohibited i n 16- -22; attery, as pro e Se tion 1 .1 or ted sexual b ibite in C cti n .2. nding Code S and e cept id d i cti n ( of this as it existed 2021 civ l a or ec ery of ed as a resu mitte e July 2015, enced on or ns the 55 ars d in this su ex al y act he defendan urred f as of age and ing a person ed n -5- 6; prohibited i rape, as pro f t e d years er at the time ted sodomy, 6-6-2 olestation or p oh ect on s the violati nt as gr ph ion (b) of Co (2) of C de -4; a child for in C de unless would be su d in s C de -5; s prohibited ted sexual b cti n Article 3 of ithstanding C tio fo ma es result of chil n r a , s all ed: efore the dat 55 four yea know nd that s ed by ical or p ntif 's ci 55 four LC 48 0064 determine from admissible evidence in a pretrial finding when the discovery of the alleged childhood sexual abuse occurred. The pretrial finding required under this subparagraph shall be made within six months of the filing of the civil action. (c)(1) As used in this subsection, the term: (A) 'Entity' means an institution, agency, firm, business, corporation, or other public or private legal entity. (B) 'Person' means the individual alleged to have committed the act of childhood sexual abuse. (2) If a civil action for recovery of damages suffered as a result of childhood sexual abuse is commenced pursuant to division (b)(2)(A)(i) of this Code section and if the person was a volunteer or employee of an entity that owed a duty of care to the plaintiff, or the person and the plaintiff were engaged in some activity over which such entity had control, damages against such entity shall be awarded under this Code section only if by a preponderance of the evidence there is a finding of negligence on the part of such entity. (3) If a civil action for recovery of damages suffered as a result of childhood sexual abuse is commenced pursuant to division (b)(2)(A)(ii) of this Code section and if the person was a volunteer or employee of an entity that owed a duty of care to the plaintiff, or the person and the plaintiff were engaged in some activity over which such entity had control, damages against such entity shall be awarded under this Code section only if by a preponderance of the evidence there is a finding that there was gross negligence on the part of such entity, that the entity knew or should have known of the alleged conduct giving rise to the civil action, and that such entity failed to take remedial action. (d)(1) As used in this subsection, the terms 'entity' and 'person' shall have the same meaning as set forth in subsection (c) of this Code section. (2) For a period of two years following July 1, 2019, plaintiffs of any age who were time barred from filing a civil action against any person or entity for injuries resulting from childhood sexual abuse due to the expiration of the statute of limitations in effect on June 30, 2019, shall be allowed to file such actions, thereby reviving those civil actions which had lapsed or technically expired under the law in effect on June 30, 2019. (3) The revival of a claim as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection shall not apply to: (A) Any claim that has been litigated to finality on the merits in a court of competent jurisdiction prior to July 1, 2019. Termination of a prior civil action on the basis of the expiration of the statute of limitations shall not constitute a claim that has been litigated to finality on the merits; and LC 48 0064 (B) Any written settlement agreement which has been entered into between a plaintiff and a defendant when the plaintiff was represented by an attorney who was admitted to practice law in this state at the time of the settlement, and the plaintiff signed such settlement. (4) This subsection shall stand repealed effective July 1, 2021.

  amended

Action History

1. March 01, 2019

   Senate Read and Referred

2. February 28, 2019

   Senate Hopper

Sponsors

• Burt Jones · Primary
• John Wilkinson · Primary
• P. K. Martin IV · Primary
• Elena Parent · Primary
• Jennifer Jordan · Primary
• Zahra Karinshak · Primary

Subjects