There should be no statute of limitations in Colorado for survivors of childhood sexual assault to hold their perpetrators and enabling institutions accountable.  

The rape and sexual assault of children are so traumatic that many of us repress our memories for decades. My father, Francis Van Derbur, raped/sexually assaulted me from the age of 5 to 18. He was one of Colorado’s most respected and successful businessmen. His obituary ran on the front page of the local newspaper. His name was on the Boy Scouts Building.

I was an overachiever to compensate for my shame. I was Miss America, skied on the University of Colorado’s ski team, graduated with Phi Beta Kappa Honors, moved to New York City and had a successful TV career. Yet, I believed people would not want to speak to me, due to my past.  

My recovery was brutal. At age 45, my life shut down and I was unable to function. When I was 53, the media reported on my story. Two weeks later, 1,100 men and women came to Montview Church to hear me speak. Since then, speaking in over 500 cities, people line up to tell me their stories – many for the first time. I have been in personal contact with more adult survivors than anyone in America. Our experiences have urgent relevance today, in our state.

The average age for survivors to come forward is age 52, when we begin to realize that the shame is not ours to carry. 

Organizations like the Catholic Church know this and fight to keep survivors from seeking justice by lobbying against statute of limitations reform. This creates roadblocks for survivors and leaves children vulnerable and unsafe. 

Many (I would say most) perpetrators never stop. When I was 56, I learned that my father continued to sexually assault other women until his death at age 75, even after I confronted him 16 years earlier. Abusers do not police themselves. They must be held accountable. 

House Bill 1296 has been introduced the Colorado legislature to remove the civil statute of limitations. I highly support it.

Abolishing the civil statute of limitations will enable adult survivors the time to remember their repressed memories, identify their perpetrator(s), seek justice, and have the capability to hold their perpetrators and enabling institutions accountable. Survivors will have access to judicial and financial relief.

There are myriad reasons why children don’t tell. Because the memories are so traumatic, many survivors repress them, blame themselves, feel guilt and shame, fear they won’t be believed, are threatened by their abuser or feel like their world – or their family – will fall apart if they tell. When disclosing their abuse, survivors often hear reactions like: “It happened so long ago. Why can’t you just get over it? Why are you trying to ruin the abuser’s life?” With these tactics of denial, minimizing and victim-blaming thrown against them, adults must confront the misuse of institutional or familial power and a lack of accountability completely on their own.

This toxic attack against survivors compounds their trauma and creates extreme challenges to their mental, emotional, physical, spiritual, relational and financial health. Survivors require psychiatric help and experience chronic physical pain and exhausting financial expenses. The healing process is long, difficult and expensive. 

Whether it’s priests, Boy Scout leaders, Olympic coaches, family members, friends or strangers, we must hold perpetrators and institutions accountable for the horrific harm they’ve done. 

The Colorado legislature must eliminate the statute of limitations currently mandating that survivors of childhood sexual assault only have six years after they turn 18 or until their 24th birthday to file a civil suit. That’s woefully inadequate to support the hundreds of thousands of survivors with whom I have spoken.

Trauma has no timeline; that’s why we need to end the statute of limitations in Colorado.

Marilyn Van Derbur Atler, a Denver native and University of Colorado graduate who was Miss Colorado in 1957 and Miss America in 1958, made national headlines in 1991 when she revealed her late father had sexually assaulted her throughout her childhood. She founded the Survivor United Network and authored the book, “Miss America By Day.”