GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A West Michigan man is speaking out and sharing his story of childhood abuse nearly three decades later. For victims who don't come forward immediately, the statute of limitations for civil claims can expire. If that happens, it can make the process of getting justice near impossible for those victims.
38-year-old Nicholas Fish, a father of four, said it’s his children who inspired him to push for legislation in Lansing to create more hope and opportunities for victims of sexual assault.
“I just ask for a fair outcome. I’m not doing it for just myself, I could care less, there's hundreds of victims in the state that deserves a voice,” Fish said.
It’s hard for Fish to talk about the sexual assault he said he experienced as a Boy Scout at nine years old. He said his Scout Master abused him for more than five years.
“Five years and it happened every week, every day,” Fish said.
A new bill in Lansing would change the statute of limitations for civil claims, giving people like Fish more time to file a suit. If passed, the bill would give victims until the age of 52 or seven years after realizing they were abused to come forward.
It’s what’s known as the Justice for Survivor’s Act. Reform has already happened for Boy Scouts victims in Iowa, Alabama and Ohio. Now, Fish is calling on the State of Michigan to do the same. Fish said he came to the United States from Bulgaria for a better life, but when he joined the Boy Scouts in East Jordan, Michigan, that dream ended abruptly. He said it’s cost him friendships, family and work his entire life.
“I came to this country to have a better life; I was born an orphanage and my grandmother sent me here to have a better life and it happened every week, it happened every day,” Fish said.
It’s why he’s calling for reform so other victims get the justice they deserve.
“I’m speaking out trying to have Lansing make changes because there's a deadline April 19 this Friday. We're just asking, as victims of the Boy Scouts for the state to hear us,” Fish said.
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