Sex Abuse Survivors Being Bullied By SOL Attorney?

By Vicki Polin

Examiner - March 20, 2013

For several years I have been involved in with the movement which was created tochanging the Statue Of Limitations (SOL)for survivors of sex crimes when it came to filing civil suits against their offenders and the organizations that helped to cover up the crimes in various states.

Though I believe it is vitally important to get rid of all SOL's both civilly and criminally, I have so many mixed feelings when it comes to continuing my support of the current movement in making these changes possible. The main reason has to do with the fact that too many survivors have contacted me over the years sharing their experiences regarding a specific attorney who allegedly has been using their position of power to cause immense emotional stress to those who either provided testimony at legislative hearings or wanted to the bill is supposed to.

Whenever a survivor speaks out publicly at workshops, conferences, to the news media or even at legislative hearings -- it is imperative that the survivors be treated with the upmost respect and walk away feeling honored.

Sharing one's story publicly is an extremely difficult thing to do. After asking a survivor to speak out in this way it is critical to follow up with survivors for several weeks if not months -- after sharing such personal information in a public venue -- just to make sure they are OK and that if they are not to do what ever is possible to make sure they get the right type of help if needed.

According to the accounts of countless survivors in several states who came in contact with this particular attorney, several survivors felt demeaned, bullied and totally disrespected. Several survivors described their experience as being "used and abused, and then spit out like trash".

Because of the behavior of this particular attorney several survivors shared that weeks after providing testimony and conversations they had with this particular attorney, they ended up attempting suicide. The problem with this particular attorney has been going on for several years, and because everyone is afraid to do anything to harm the chances of getting the SOL bill passed, no one is willing to speak out publicly about this issue. Because secrecy can be extremely dangerous and potentially deadly (by potential suicide), I am making this note public.

If you or anyone you know felt harmed by this particular attorney, please contact me and I can try to help you find help. There is no shame in asking for help. You did nothing wrong, and should see yourself as a hero for having the courage to providing testimony at a legislative hearing.