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Bill Would Drop Time Limits for Prosecuting, Suing Over Rape

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Some Democratic state lawmakers want Ohio to eliminate time limits on when people can be charged with or sued over rape or attempted rape.

Sen. Joe Schiavoni, of Boardman, announced a bill Wednesday that would lift the statute of limitations that currently allows for charges within 25 years of a rape or civil litigation within two years.

Schiavoni says there shouldn’t be a clock on survivors seeking justice in such cases.

He was joined by victims’ rights attorney Gloria Allred and two self-described sexual abuse survivors. One was former wrestler Mike DiSabato, who says he’s among many victims of alleged sexual misconduct decades ago by now-deceased Ohio State University doctor Richard Strauss.

Allred says the legislation probably wouldn’t directly benefit many survivors in that case but could help others.