A bill to strengthen protections for child abuse victims is currently stalled on the Senate floor, despite easily passing every other step of the legislative process this session.
House Bill 4227, also known as the Cindy Clemishire Act and Trey's Law, has received zero no votes at the Oklahoma State Capitol.
This has led to growing confusion about why the Senate hasn't taken the legislation up. Right now it is a race against time to get it across the finish line.
Christmas night 1982 was the first time Robert Morris sexually abused Cindy Clemishire.
She was 12 at the time, and he was a family friend.
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"We knew that the statute of limitations had expired years ago. And even though they've been modified along the way, I still was, there was no way for us to pursue him criminally because of the statute of limitations. So thankfully there was a loophole," Clemishire told FOX 25.
Clemishire's story is one of the pillars of HB4227.
The Cindy Clemishire Act would remove the statute of limitations for when prosecution can be pursued for sexual crimes against children.
Currently, Oklahoma law says prosecution must begin by the time the victim is 45.
"Statistics show that the average age is 52 years old before someone actually is able to speak publicly about it, and that is still very rare," Clemishire said. "I was 54 whenever I came forward."
The other pillar of the bill is Trey's Law.
"The Trey's Law movement began when my little brother died by suicide in 2019 after enduring the unimaginable," said Trey Carlock's sister Elizabeth Carlock Phillips. "He was groomed and sexually abused at Kanakuk Kamps in Branson, Missouri. And then after that pursued justice through the civil courts and unfortunately that ended with a restrictive settlement agreement that included an unnecessarily intimidating NDA."
The Trey's Law section of the bill would prohibit the use of non-disclosure agreements in child sexual abuse cases.
House Bill 4227 has sailed through the legislative process. That is until is was eligible to be heard on the Senate floor, where it has not been heard.
"From what we've gathered, it is Senate leadership who does not want to bring this to a floor vote. That is so shocking to me, and it's also so disappointing to survivors in Oklahoma," Phillips said.
"I don't understand why anyone would want to oppose this unless they're protecting someone or an institution possibly," Clemishire said.
