Six individuals, unknown to each other, reported being molested by the same man. But of the six complaints, only one would have been prosecutable because of delayed disclosure by the victims.
That's why eliminating the statute of limitations in child molestation and rape cases is crucial, assistant district attorney Kevin McMurry of the Coweta Judicial Circuit told the Newnan Rotary Club Friday.
"These cases are personal to me," said McMurry, who is the father of four young children. "I don't want to have to tell any more victims that we can't do anything."
In the six-victim case, the alleged molester died before any case could be pursued. Shortly before his death, the man had applied for a job as a bus driver. McMurry said he found that aspect particularly disturbing.
"When we can't do anything, it means the perpetrator still has access to children," he said.
McMurry has worked with District Attorney Pete Skandalakis to draft and present legislation that would eliminate the statute of limitations. He told Rotarians that 47 percent of adults who disclosed abuse in adulthood delayed their disclosure for more than five years and 62 percent delayed for more than one year. During the jury selection voir dire process, 20 to 40 percent of potential jurors mention acts of abuse that were not prosecuted, he said.
"Victims often aren't strong enough to disclose until later in their lives," he said.
Reasons for delayed disclosure are many and varied, according to McMurry, but a recurring theme is the unwillingness or inability of adults to help the abused children in their lives.
"We teach our kids to tell the truth, but then we make it so difficult on them," McMurry said. "We make them think they can't or shouldn't be believed."
McMurry, who has worked child abuse, exploitation, molestation and murder cases, has successfully prosecuted some that were more than a decade old. He was awarded the Commitment to Justice Award in 2009 and has taught law enforcement officers and fellow attorneys at the National Internet Crimes Against Children Conferences in 2010 and 2011, and is slated to teach again this year. He is active in international efforts to rescue young children form the sex trafficking industry in Southeast Asia, recently joining the board of Freedom Firm India.
But it is his efforts to identify and help bring to justice people like convicted serial child molester Robert Ewell -- who received seven life sentences for his crimes against children -- that have brought about McMurry's work toward ending the time limits on child cases.
"There are lots of reasons children don't tell what happens when it happens," McMurry said. "Embarrassment, guilt, power differential between victim and perpetrator, unstable family situations, fear of consequences... we have to stop punishing the victims for delayed disclosure."
Any case in which the statute has already expired would not be affected by the proposed legislation, but statute elimination would extend the statute on cases that have almost expired, McMurry said, giving law enforcement, court officials and victims more time to strengthen delayed disclosure cases that the district attorney's office considers prosecutable.
"Each case is evaluated on whether or not the evidence supports prosecution," McMurry said. "If it is prosecutable, then we move forward. If it is not, then the case will not proceed. By eliminating the statute of limitations, this evaluation does not change.
"The statute of limitations does not change the evidence, and the evidence really determines how difficult it is to prosecute," McMurry said. "I don't think the change will make any cases more difficult or easier to prosecute. It will simply make prosecution available in some old cases that otherwise could not go forward."
