A former wrestler at The Ohio State University (OSU) is throwing his support behind Democratic legislation that would end the state’s statute of limitations on rape charges.
Mike DiSabato, one of several men who came forward earlier this year with allegations that they were sexually abused by a former team doctor, said at a press conference Wednesday that he would support legislation from state Sen. Joe Schiavone (D) that would eliminate the statute of limitations on charges of rape and attempted rape, according to NBC News.
{mosads}The bill would also “provide that there is no period of limitations for a civil action brought by a victim,” according to the senator, who joined DiSabato and attorney Gloria Allred at the news conference.
“There is no statute of limitation on murder and there should not be a statute of limitations on rape,” Schiavone said.
Allred added in her remarks that changes to state law were needed to protect past victims of abuse, and added that too often male sexual assault victims are ignored.
“Clearly there needs to be a change in state law,” Allred said, according to NBC. “Often we think of victims of sexual abuse as women. We should not ignore men who were sexually abused.”
A spokesman for OSU told NBC News that the university does “not have a position on the bill.”
The allegations of sexual abuse at OSU rippled out onto Capitol Hill earlier this year when several former team members accused Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan (R), formerly a wrestling coach at the school, of knowing about the alleged abuse and doing nothing to stop it.
Jordan has denied the allegations and claims to have had no knowledge of abuse that allegedly occurred during his time at OSU.