![\"Child](\"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Child-Sexual-Abuse-at-School-Urges-Need-for-Child-Victims-Act.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
May 29, 2015<\/em><\/p>\n A child sex abuse report recently detailed that from the 1960s to \u201990s, more than 60 students were sexually abused by 22 school employees<\/a> at the Horace Mann School in the Bronx.<\/p>\n The study was conducted by the Horace Mann Action Coalition, a nonprofit group founded by alumni of the school.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, no charges were ever filed as the result of this report because all those cases fell outside New York State statute of limitations for pursuing civil or criminal damages.<\/p>\n The report is not only a shocking reminder that sexual abuse of children can happen anywhere, but that our legal system is flawed in protecting these victims.<\/p>\n It also stands to emphasize the importance of Child Victims Act.<\/p>\n \u201cWe owe it to each and every adult survivor to ensure our laws hold offenders accountable, provide appropriate relief in civil and criminal proceedings, and help protect our children in every corner of the State<\/em>”\u00a0said Safe Horizon’s Vice President of Government Affairs Michael Polenberg. “Now, more than ever, the New York State legislature must pass the Child Victims Act into law.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Currently, adult survivors are prohibited from seeking justice once they turn 24 years old.\u00a0The Child Victims Act will eliminate the statute of limitations for additional felony-level sex crimes against children, and will create a one-year \u201cwindow\u201d to allow adult survivors to bring civil charges against their offenders.<\/p>\n We firmly believe that those who prey on children should not simply be able to\u00a0run out the clock\u00a0when it comes to facing justice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Michael Polenberg, VP of gov’t affairs, reacts to the loopholes in the legal system and reinforces the importance of the Child Victims Act.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":{"id":2789,"alt_text":"Child Sexual Abuse at School Urges Need for Child Victims Act","caption":"","description":"Child Sexual Abuse at School Urges Need for Child Victims Act","media_type":"image","media_details":{"width":720,"height":480,"file":"2015\/05\/Child-Sexual-Abuse-at-School-Urges-Need-for-Child-Victims-Act.jpg","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"Child-Sexual-Abuse-at-School-Urges-Need-for-Child-Victims-Act-150x150.jpg","width":150,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Child-Sexual-Abuse-at-School-Urges-Need-for-Child-Victims-Act-150x150.jpg"},"medium":{"file":"Child-Sexual-Abuse-at-School-Urges-Need-for-Child-Victims-Act-300x200.jpg","width":300,"height":200,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Child-Sexual-Abuse-at-School-Urges-Need-for-Child-Victims-Act-300x200.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"AP","camera":"","caption":"FILE - This April 22, 2013 file photo shows the Horace Mann school in the Bronx borough of New York . The Bronx district attorney's office and the New York Police Department launched an investigation into allegations of abuse at the prestigious private school, after a New York Times Magazine article last summer said the academy was plagued by teachers who sexually abused children in the 1970s. Prosecutors said Friday, April 26, 2013 that they found a pattern of abuse that went even further than what was alleged in the article. (AP Photo\/Mark Lennihan, File)","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"Prep School Sexual Abuse","orientation":"1","keywords":[]}},"post":2788,"source_url":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Child-Sexual-Abuse-at-School-Urges-Need-for-Child-Victims-Act.jpg"},"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2013],"tags":[403,65,1017,409,405,407],"class_list":["post-2788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-statements-and-press-releases","tag-child-sexual-abuse","tag-child-victims-act","tag-cva","tag-horace-mann","tag-horace-mann-action-coalition","tag-horace-mann-school","issue-child-abuse"],"acf":{"page_header_title":"","page_header_excerpt":"","page_header_image":"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/silhouette_hero_image.png","related_initiative_title":"Stand up for survivors of child sex abuse","related_initiative_link":"http:\/\/connect.safehorizon.org\/help-child-sexual-abuse-survivors-gain-justice?utm_campaign=CVA%20-%20Child%20Victims%20Act&utm_source=Safe%20Horizon%20Blog&utm_medium=Safe%20Horizon%20Blog","related_initiative_link_text":"Sign our pledge","featured_posts":[{"ID":1376,"post_author":"12","post_date":"2013-12-05 00:00:00","post_date_gmt":"2013-12-05 00:00:00","post_content":"![\"Angelica's](\"https:\/\/www.safehorizon.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Angelicas-Dad-Supports-Her-Healing.jpg\")
\r\n\r\nAfter nine-year-old *Angelica's mother suddenly passed away, her father turned to a close friend to help babysit Angelica after school.\r\n\r\nTragically, this 'trusted friend' repeatedly raped Angelica over the course of months and threatened her not to tell anyone. Summoning all of her courage, she finally told her teachers, who then\u00a0reported her case to the New York State Child Abuse Hotline. With their report, Angelica and her father were taken to one of Safe Horizon's\u00a0Child Advocacy Centers (CACs)<\/a>.\r\nHow We Helped Angelica overcome Child Abuse<\/h2>\r\nAt first, Angelica didn\u2019t want to talk about what happened. She had been so scared of losing her father and of being taken away that she held onto this awful secret for months. Our staff assured Angelica that she had done the right thing by telling her teachers. With\u00a0this help and encouragement, Angelica opened up to them about the abuse.\r\n\r\nAngelica\u2019s father, meanwhile, was angry and felt incredibly guilty that his best friend had taken advantage of their tragic situation to hurt and terrorize Angelica. Our counselors helped him understand that the abuse was not his fault, and offered him a chance to learn more about how he could support Angelica.\r\n
Justice for Angelica: Child Abuse Survivor<\/h2>\r\nOur CACs partner with the police to bring child abuser perpetrators to justice and\u00a0had some questions of their own for Angelica\u2019s abuser. They discovered that he found out that Angelica had finally reported what he had done and he tried to flee. The police brought him back to our CAC, where they interviewed him. After concluding their investigation, the police arrested the man who Angelica\u2019s father had put so much trust in.\r\n\r\nAngelica\u2019s abuser ended up on trial, and with the tremendous help of our counselors and partners, Angelica is no longer afraid to tell her father when something\u2019s wrong and her father tells us that they\u2019ve become much closer.\u00a0They are now a family again thanks to our CAC staff, who help child abuse survivors like Angelica get a chance to find happiness, safety, and a new start after abuse.\r\n\r\n* Client names and identifying information have been changed to protect their privacy. Images used are representations of Safe Horizon\u2019s clients.<\/em><\/span>","post_title":"Angelica\u2019s Dad Supports Her Healing from Child Abuse","post_excerpt":"Something happened to Angelica that devastated both her and her father. Our Child Advocacy Center staff gave Angelica and her dad the chance to heal from child abuse.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"angelicas-dad-supports-her-healing","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2017-10-03 17:10:30","post_modified_gmt":"2017-10-03 17:10:30","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/safehorizon.dev\/uncategorized-en\/angelicas-dad-supports-her-healing\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"original_url":"","show_author_bio":false},"yoast_head":"\n