California’s governor signed a landmark bill Wednesday abolishing the state’s 10-year statute of limitations on rape and sexual assault charges — thanks in large part to the voices of Bill Cosby’s accusers.
“It’s a tremendous day. I’m just so happy,” accuser Beth Ferrier told the Daily News after the news broke.
“We were using social media and calling and emailing to make sure he signed,” Ferrier said, referring to a group of other accusers including Janice Baker Kenney.
“I’m just so proud of these strong women. You put us together, and we can get a few things done. We switched from the role of being victims to being activists,” the former model who worked on a similar campaign in her home state of Colorado said.
Ferrier, 57, was instrumental in getting Colorado lawmakers last June to double the amount of time sexual assault victims have to seek charges from 10 to 20 years.
“I thought I was excited about Colorado, but we didn’t get it abolished. It was great, but this is so much better,” she said Wednesday.
Ferrier stepped forward in 2005 with allegations Cosby drugged and assaulted her in the mid-80s.
She was one of the original Jane Doe witnesses who agreed to testify for Andrea Constand in her 2005 sexual assault lawsuit against Cosby.
The suit settled, but Cosby is now facing criminal prosecution and a trial scheduled for June over allegations he doped and groped Constand in his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004.
Cosby, 79, has pleaded not guilty in the criminal case. He also is battling several civil lawsuits brought by other accusers.
In California, the law revoking the statute of limitations on new cases of rape and sexual assault will go into effect next year.
Called SB813, the new law also will end the time limit on older cases in which the statute of limitations has not yet expired.
It will have no effect on cases that have already timed out — including those from several Cosby accusers dating back 10 to 50 years.
Still, several of the accusers and their lawyer, Gloria Allred, testified before the California Legislature in support of the bill.
“The passage of this new law means that the courthouse doors will no longer be slammed shut in the face of rape victims,” Allred said in a statement Wednesday. “It puts sexual predators on notice that the passage of time may no longer protect them from serious criminal consequences for their acts of sexual violence.”
Allred thanked Sen. Connie Leyva for carrying the bill through a unanimous vote in the legislature prior to Brown’s signature.
“Although for constitutional reasons it cannot be retroactive, it is an important victory,” she said. “We hope that this will send a message to other states to follow California’s lead and provide much needed justice for victims.”
Seventeen other states already have no statute of limitations on rape, according to the California Women’s Law Center.
