SALEM, Ore. — The Oregon Senate approved a bill Thursday doubling the amount of time rape or sexual assault victims would have to press charges against their abusers, despite requests from sexual assault victims to expand it even further or get rid of it completely.
The measure would set the statute of limitations at 12 years, up from six.
Sexual assault victims pushed hard to expand it even further, and two amendments, one increasing the limits to 20 years and the other eliminating the statute of limitations altogether, were introduced in a Senate committee.
Neither amendment was taken up, and Senate Committee on Judiciary Chair Sen. Floyd Prozanski said he’d convene a work group to study whether the statute should be expanded beyond 12 years.
Several victims have testified their cases were never tried because the time limits on prosecutions ran out by the time they were ready to come forward. Some said they were happy some changes were coming, but others said lawmakers should have pressed for a longer statute of limitations while they had momentum.