Your Name
Address
City, MD Zip Code

[Insert Date]


The Honorable [Insert Senator’s Name]
James Senate Office Building, Room [xxx]
11 Bladen St., Annapolis, MD 21401


Dear Senator [Insert Last Name]:

I am one of your constituents and am very concerned about the No vote in 2015 SB 668. Failure to vote and pass this bill harms the welfare of Maryland citizens by denying justice to victims of heinous crimes against children.


“Some reports say that only 33% of child sexual abuse incidents are ever reported. Others have said as few as 12% are reported. London et al, “Disclosure of Child Sexual Abuse: What Does the Research Tell Us About the Ways That Children Tell,” 2005; Hanson, R.F. et al., 1999, Child Abuse and Neglect, “Factors Related to the Reporting of Childhood Sexual Assault.”


If in 2013 in Maryland there were 1,782 cases of childhood sexual abuse investigated, but only 33% of childhood sexual abuse are reported, then it is likely that there were at least 5,400 cases that went unreported in 2013.


These numbers may even be higher because the data on reported/investigated child sexual assault cases in Maryland only includes “sexual abuse of a minor”. If 1 in 5 children experience sexual abuse, then there are approximately 269,292 children in Maryland who have experienced sexual abuse” (Incidence, 2011).


Even though Maryland currently has no criminal statute of limitations for felonies, very few offenders are prosecuted. Although no hard numbers seem to be available an estimated 400,000 untested rape kits is an indication that the crime of child sexual abuse largely goes unpunished. In most cases civil lawsuits are the only recourse for victims of these unspeakable crimes.


There are hundreds of suicides due to child sexual abuse each year, in effect, perpetrators have murdered hundreds of victims. Whereas there is no statute of limitation for murder and other felonies, perpetrators are never brought to any trial or discovery and instead are set free by an unjust loophole.


{Place your personal story here}


In many if not most cases, traumatic events are repressed just as a soldier might not recall unimaginable calamities. In addition to threats of death to the victim or victim's family members, manipulation of a child into believing their culpability is often a cause of never telling anyone. The only time that is safe to come forward is years if not decades later which is all too often past the statute of limitations. The average age of coming remembering and dealing with childhood trauma is 40 plus years.


I ask that you close this loophole in the law and let discovery and justice be determined in the court of law and not statute that tips the scale of justice against children victims.


Please encourage a vote for SB 668 in the 2016 Maryland legislative session.


Sincerely,


{your name}


















Incidence of Child Sexual Abuse – Focus on Maryland. (2011, July 7). Retrieved October 12, 2015, from http://www.mcasa.org/_mcasaWeb/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Incidence-of-Child-Sexual-Abuse-–-Focus-on-Maryland.pdf