A bill to allow the victims of child sexual abuse to sue their abusers, regardless of when the acts took place, failed to clear the legislature despite overwhelming bipartisan support.
House Bill 75 sought to remove the civil statute of limitations on such cases, allowing these claims to be filed in Superior Court at any time. It would also have waived the state’s sovereign immunity for civil actions based on childhood sexual abuse. The measure applied retroactively, covering cases preceding the bill’s enactment.
Sponsored by State House Republican Leader Tim Dukes (R-Laurel), the measure had cleared the House of Representatives on the last night of the 2025 legislative session, 40-0. It was released from the Senate Judiciary Committee in late March of this year.
“I’ve asked for action on the bill since we got back in January,” Rep. Dukes said early last Wednesday morning. “This was not a political bill. It wasn’t Democrat or Republican, but it really was recognizing the problems we’ve had in the past and trying to correct them by stating that we want to support victims of sexual abuse.”
State Sen. Nicole Poore (D-New Castle), a Senate prime sponsor of the bill, said childhood sexual abuse is unlike most crimes. “We know from decades of research, from psychologists, law enforcement, prosecutors, advocates, and most importantly, from the survivors themselves, that many victims cannot tell their story as children. They’re manipulated, they’re threatened, and they are groomed by adults they were taught to trust.
“Many spend years believing what happened to them was somehow their fault,” she continued. “Some don’t disclose until they are in their 40s, 50s, or even later, not because the abuse matters any less, but because trauma does not follow a legal timeline.”
After its committee release, the bill remained in Senate limbo for more than three months without being brought to the floor for consideration.
The evening before the final day of the session, State Senate President Pro Tem Dave Sokola (D-Newark, Pike Creek), a co-sponsor of the bill, filed a sweeping amendment entirely rewriting it.
Sen. Sokola said the changes were needed to clarify and streamline the legal process and that his changes would ultimately benefit victims.
However, supporters of the bill, like State Sen. Bryan Richardson (R-Seaford), characterized the amendment as gutting the measure in the service of special interests.
Sen. Poore said the amendment “changes the mission” of the legislation. “This is not a technical amendment. It is an insurance industry amendment designed to cut their losses at the expense of victims. It is a complete rewrite of the bill that unanimously passed the House and was unanimously released by both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. Instead of restoring access to justice, this amendment restores barriers. It imposes arbitrary damage caps that apply only to survivors of childhood sexual abuse. … It creates separate damage caps for perpetrators and institutions, forcing courts to sort defendants into artificial categories and inviting years of unnecessary litigation.”
However, the objections in the Senate did not sway the majority. The transformative amendment was added, with Sen. Poore and all five Senate Republicans present for the vote opposing it. The bill was sent back to the House for another vote in the early morning hours of July 1st.
Discussing his bill in the House Chamber soon afterward, Rep. Dukes implied that the amendment’s timing was calculated and that its addition to the measure was devastating. “On the 29th of June at 5 52 p.m., an absolutely disastrous amendment was added to the bill,” he said. “The amendment creates numerous new legal definitions and hurdles with regard to liability. The amendment was never vetted, never went through a committee process. In fact, the frustration with it is that it actually creates more ambiguity in the law.”
Rather than run a flawed bill, Rep. Dukes struck the legislation, promising to reintroduce it next January at the start of the new 154th General Assembly, prompting a standing ovation from every member of the chamber. (Rep. Tim Dukes floor comments may be viewed here.)
Sen. Sokola has announced he is not seeking reelection and will not be a member of the state legislature in 2027.
