Rep. John Lawn (10th Middlesex District) is lead sponsor of House Bill 1829 to remove the current statute of limitations on civil cases of child sexual abuse. Current state law allows a victim to file a civil suit until the victim is age 53 (or until age 60 if the victim has repressed the memories of abuse).

This is Rep. Lawn’s second attempt to remove the civil statute of limitations, and it addresses an area with which he is painfully familiar. He wrote about his own experience being abused as a child in a May 6 Boston Globe op-ed, noting that “Trauma does not operate on a legal timeline. It buries itself deep, shaped by shame, fear and a child’s instinct to survive…” The bill is about “validation” and “equity,” he said.

Rep. Lawn is House Chair of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing. He believes that people who have suffered sexual abuse feel unable to confront their ordeal or tell others. He states that his abusers included a Catholic priest and a man who ran a local pool and skating rink after he had been paroled from prison for child sex abuse. He said the latter had been a teacher, convicted of abusing students, and ultimately was sentenced to life in prison. Although Rep. Lawn hesitated for a long time to share his own story, he realized he was not alone and some of his constituents and friends were among the abused. Before publishing his own story, Rep. Lawn spoke to his mother to be sure she was comfortable with his decision. She assured him she was.

Rep. Lawn suggested that institutions may at times protect the people who work for them, such as by reassigning priests to other parishes if they have been involved in sexual abuse. When State Senator Joan Lovely filed a similar bill in the previous legislative session, the Boston Archdiocese was quoted in the National Catholic Reporter saying:

“The legislative changes currently proposed and under consideration would jeopardize our ability to continue to (assist victims) and would make it difficult to sustain the many works of mercy the church is committed to through social justice and support for the neediest…..” (October 3, 2023)

There may be a financial impact from such lawsuits following the removal of the statute of limitations. There have been many successful civil lawsuits brought by adult survivors against both childhood sexual predators and a wide range of religious, secular, educational, sports, medical, and daycare facilities that employ them.

State Senate Majority Leader Cynthia Creem says she is “open to the [change in the legislation], because “often people suppress their memories, but realize in later life that they should speak out.”

State Representative Amy Sangiolo (11th Middlesex District) said of the bill:

“I think this is a great bill designed to remove a procedural barrier for victims to access justice. It does not presume liability but provides an opportunity for cases to be heard rather than be dismissed because of passage of time, and it recognizes that many survivors do not fully disclose or fully understand the abuse for many, many years because of trauma, fear, shame, and many other reasons. “

State Representative Greg Schwartz (12th Middlesex District) described it as “a simple bill, with a simple, powerful goal.” He said that since the harm of sexual abuse as “unlimited, there shouldn’t be a time limit for the culpability of the crimes.”

As of this reporting, the bill has cleared the Judiciary Committee and is now in the Ways and Means Committee. There are several more steps before the bill comes to the House members for a vote. The legislative session ends on July 31, 2026.

The Middlesex Children’s Advocacy Center provides links to resources for people who have suffered child sex abuse:

Also, the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance has information for service providers, victims, survivors, and community members.

Rep. John Lawn sponsors bill to eliminate statute of limitations on civil cases of child sex abuse