As young athletes competing in the sport of cheer in Texas, we were repeatedly abused by our former coach during training sessions. Today, as we seek justice against our abuser, the Texas legislature has an opportunity to change the law to provide the same path to justice for other survivors of child sex abuse.
Like so many other survivors, pursuing justice for what we endured has been key to our healing. It is giving us a chance to use our voices to not only demand accountability for our own abuse but try to create change to protect children from abuse going forward. Our circumstances have allowed us to seek justice through the civil justice system, but unfortunately not all survivors are given the same opportunity because of the way our state’s laws can be used to shield abusers from facing repercussions for their heinous acts.
Child sex abuse survivors in Texas currently have 30 years after they turn 18 to seek accountability against their abuser and the organizations that enabled the abuse or upheld the abuser. One day later, abusers and institutions escape the window of accountability and survivors are left with little to no legal recourse in the civil justice system. That arbitrary timeline is problematic for many reasons, including the fact that the majority of survivors don’t come forward with their story or report their abuse until age 52.
Now, HB 206, introduced by Rep. Ann Johnson, would make it possible for more survivors to seek damages from perpetrators of sexual assault and the institutions that have ignored or condoned abuse. The bill would eliminate the statute of limitations on child sex abuse claims so that survivors’ access to justice is not eliminated after an arbitrary time limit. Over 20 other states have already enacted this type of legislation to provide survivors with additional time to file older civil sexual abuse claims.
Just as importantly, HB 206 would create a retroactive “lookback” window for survivors whose claims were previously rendered meaningless after their statute of limitations expired. Many survivors in Texas had statutes of limitations that were only 2 or 5 or 15 years long. This vital component of the bill would open the door to justice for older survivors who previously had no option to move forward and seek accountability.
In contrast, there is related but far inferior proposed legislation moving through the state legislature under the guise of providing help to survivors that will actually make it even harder for them to seek justice. HB 4601 was introduced by Rep. Jeff Leach and aims to cut in half the window in which survivors can seek justice from 30 years to only 15 years for non-perpetrator defendants such as churches, gyms, and other organization where the abuse occurred if the organization meets certain basic requirements. The bill also aims to increase the burden of proof required for non-perpetrator defendants to be held accountable.
HB 4601 will only end up protecting child molesters and the organizations that protect abusers. Given the timeline of the abuse we endured and when we were able to come forward, this bill would not directly affect our pursuit of justice against our abuser. But unfortunately, we know there are many others who have experienced what we did, and we will stand with them and support them every step of the way. This bill will only enable abuse, and we stand in strong opposition to it.
We sincerely hope that the Texas legislature does the right thing in passing HB 206 to give survivors of child sex abuse additional time to file older civil sexual abuse claims. Without the lookback window, countless survivors will once again be left behind and abusers will continue to evade accountability. We call on our state government to do the right thing for Texas child sex abuse survivors rather than protect child molesters and the organizations behind them.
Hannah Gerlacher and Jessica Gerlacher are world champion cheer athletes and coaches in competitive cheer. They live in Frisco, Texas.
