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Iowa lawmakers advance bill to help Boy Scout abuse victims
Lawmakers face deadline so survivors may get a better settlement
Apr. 3, 2024 4:29 pm, Updated: Apr. 3, 2024 7:37 pm
DES MOINES — Senate lawmakers advanced a bill Wednesday that would lift Iowa's statute of limitations on civil claims on sexual abuse to allow survivors of sexual abuse in the Boy Scouts of America in the state to take full advantage of bankruptcy proceedings against the organization.
Lawmakers have been facing a ticking clock. Iowa has one year from the effective date of the settlement trust — by April 19 — to change the law, or else Iowa survivors will receive less than others across the country, according to an attorney involved in the matter. That means lawmakers must pass and Gov. Kim Reynolds must sign the bill into law before then for survivors to receive the larger amount.
Senate Study Bill 3197 unanimously passed Wednesday out of a three-member Senate subcommittee. It now heads to the full Senate Appropriations Committee.
The bill temporarily would lift the state’s statute of limitations so that victims of the Boy Scouts can receive damages from the Scouting Settlement Trust, a $2.7 billion fund that was established last year after the Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy protection.
Settlement involves over 82,000 abuse victims
The Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy in 2020 after several states enacted laws letting accusers sue over decades-old abuse allegations. The organization ultimately reached a settlement, approved in court in 2022, that would pay abuse victims amounts ranging from $3,500 to $2.7 million.
The settlement involves more than 82,000 men who said they were abused as children by troop leaders. That fund — the largest of its kind in U.S. history to settle sexual abuse claims — began distributing payments last fall to victims.
But unless Iowa legislators take action in the next few weeks, the estimated roughly 300 to 350 Iowans involved in the settlement will receive a fraction of the awards they would be entitled to.
When figuring victims’ compensation, the settlement uses a matrix that weighs a variety of factors ― including different states' civil statutes of limitations.
Iowa’s statute of limitations requires victims of child sexual abuse to file cases in district courts by the age of 19 or within four years of coming to the realization as an adult that their injuries and suffering are related to their alleged abuse.
Because of Iowa's short statute of limitations for filing lawsuits related to child sexual abuse, victims in Iowa could see their financial compensation from the Scouts reduced by 60 to 70 percent compared with victims in other states, said Gilion Dumas, an Oregon attorney who is appealing the national settlement agreement and represents an Iowan who has a filed claim in the bankruptcy.
Report: Average age for disclosure of child sexual abuse is 52
Data from the U.S. Department of Justice suggests that 86 percent of child sexual abuse goes unreported altogether. When victims do report, the average age of disclosure for child sexual abuse is 52, according to a March 2020 report by Child USA, a national think tank for child protection.
As a result, a $600,000 claim would be worth only $180,000, “simply because it happened in Iowa,” Dumas said. And even then, people might only be paid 5 to 10 percent of the value because there’s not enough money in the fund, Dumas said.
What would the Iowa bill do?
The Senate bill, modeled after legislation passed in Alabama, creates an exception to Iowa’s civil statute of limitations for injuries resulting from childhood sexual abuse for “purposes of making a claim in a bankruptcy proceeding that was initiated on February 18, 2020” against the bankruptcy estate of a congressionally chartered organization. The language would effectively limit the exception to victims of abuse in the Boy Scouts.
The legislation, if signed into law, would take effect immediately and apply retroactively to injuries resulting from sex offense barred due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. The act would be repealed Dec. 31, 2026.
Some call for statute to be lifted permanently
Amy Campbell, a lobbyist representing the Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault, said the group supports the bill, but would like to see the civil statute of limitations lifted for everyone.
Supporters say lifting the law would allow more people to come forward and report abuse while also holding organizations accountable. Opponents have expressed concerns that getting rid of the statute could make it difficult for organizations to defend themselves against decades-old cases.
Iowa officials in 2021 lifted the state’s statute of limitations for bringing criminal charges in sexual abuse, incest, sexual exploitation and human trafficking cases. But the law does not cover civil claims.
Sen. Janet Petersen, a Des Moines Democrat who has advocated for eliminating the statute of limitations and creating a revival window for survivors to file claims and receive 100 percent of damages, applauded efforts to ensure hundreds of Boy Scouts abuse victims in Iowa are not shortchanged.
Petersen said she will continue to push get rid of the civil statute of limitations on sexual abuse. She thanked survivors for coming forward.
“I know how extremely painful and difficult it is to share their stories with lawmakers and to put their trust in us that we will try to do something to make sure that they’re not shortchanged from the violence that they endured as children,” said Petersen, who served on the subcommittee and voted to advance the bill. “The system failed them as children, and let’s try to make sure that it doesn’t fail them as grown-ups.”
Bill sponsor and Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Tim Kraayenbrink, R-Fort Dodge, said he anticipated passing the bill out of committee Thursday with a technical amendment and sending it to the full Senate for quick passage.
“This is our shot and we need to get it done quickly,” said Kraayenbrink, who has met with Iowa survivors, including Joe Gargano of Fort Dodge.
Gargano, 67, said he was sexually abused when he was a Boy Scout in Iowa around the age of 10. He said his lawyer told him about the Iowa law that could stand in the way of his full payout, and has pushed for a fix ahead of the impending deadline.
Reynolds told reporters Wednesday she’s “open” to supporting the bill and willing to take a look at it as it works its way through the legislative process.
“My overall goal is to find a sense of justice for those who have been violated,” Kraayenbrink told reporters. “I don’t think there’s enough justice to give them, you know, for what they probably endured … but I think this would help make things right.”
Caleb McCullough and Erin Murphy of The Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau contributed to this report.
Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com
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