Law would remove statute of limitations for felony sex crimes
Published 1:30 am Thursday, January 24, 2019
By Emma Epperly / Columbia Basin Herald
OLYMPIA — State lawmakers are considering legislation that would eliminate the statute of limitations on certain felony sex offenses, allowing victims to seek charges in cases that aren’t immediately brought before prosecutors.
The House Public Safety committee heard public testimony Tuesday on two bills that eliminate the statute of limitations in certain felony sex offenses. Lawmakers also heard testimony on another bill that if passed would establish best practices for the storing and processing of sexual assault kits, which can be key pieces of evidence when prosecuting sex offenses.
Both bills are sponsored by District 35 Rep. Dan Griffey, R-Allyn, who has been working for many years to get the statute of limitations changed for sex offenses. House Bill 1231 would add child molestation in the first-degree and rape of a child in the first-degree to the list of offenses that do not have a statute of limitations. HB 1234 would add rape in the first, second and third-degree to the list of sex offenses with no statute of limitations.
Griffey testified that both bills are written to allow for amendments that extend the statute of limitations on a variety of sex offenses. The House has passed similar legislation in the past but the Senate has not.
“When you talk to some of the survivors, they really believe that the person that existed before the offense doesn’t exist any longer,” said Griffey, who told both his wife’s and daughter’s sexual assault stories at the hearing.
The committee also heard testimony on HB 1166, sponsored by District 33 Rep. Tina Orwall, D-Des Moines, which relates to support for sexual assault survivors. The bill is the product of the joint legislative task force on sexual assault forensic examination best practices.
If passed into law, HB 1166 would institute a year-long moratorium on the destruction of unreported sexual assault kits, which contain physical evidence collected from victims when the victim has not yet reported a crime to law enforcement. During the moratorium the task force plans to work on where the kits are to be stored in the future and the process in which they will be handled. The storage issue is the reason that the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs are in opposition to the bill.
The bill would create timelines for the submission and processing of sexual assault kits. It establishes a 45-day standard for the processing of kits collected in the future. The Washington State Attorney General’s Office testified in favor of extending the statute of limitations from one year to two years following the identification of a suspect through DNA testing or photographs. The legislation also creates a bill of rights for victims, witnesses and survivors.
