Two months too late, too bad. Connecticut's statute of limitations is just another form of child sexual abuse.
CT survivors of child sex abuse seek change to law: ‘Halls of justice have been locked’
Janet Orsatti-Duffany was unaware of what was happening to her, she said, when at the age of 3 a priest where her mother worked sexually abused her.
“Even if my mother could have believed me at the age of 3, I did not have the words,” Orsatti-Duffany said Tuesday. “It wasn’t until I was 43 that these memories came crashing through. During that time those closest to me were very affected. I couldn’t sleep in the same bed as my husband for years. I was an absolute wreck, mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually.”
Following years of therapy, Orsatti-Duffany said, she was ready to speak out and seek justice but her attorney told her she was two months too late and that the statute of limitations had expired.
“All that abuse,” she said. “All those memories. All that suffering. Only to be told I’m two months too late. The halls of justice have been locked for many of us because of a date on a calendar here in Connecticut.”
Orsatti-Duffany and other survivors of sexual violence shared their stories at the Capitol Tuesday, calling for lawmakers to eliminate the civil statute of limitations for child sexual assault and also protect survivors of sexual abuse from online exploitation and AI-generated abuse.
There is no legislation proposed this session to eliminate the civil statute of limitations for child sexual assault. A bill that would have eliminated the civil statute of limitations for sexual assault failed in the legislature in 2020.
Melania Trump hails first conviction under new law banning AI-generated child sex abuse images
First lady Melania Trump on Tuesday hailed the first criminal conviction under legislation she championed to outlaw artificial intelligence-generated images of child sexual abuse and revenge porn.
James Strahler, 37, pleaded guilty in a US District Court in Ohio to cyberstalking, producing obscene visual representations of child sexual abuse and publication of digital forgeries – criminal activity covered by the Take It Down Act, which the first lady and President Trump signed into law last year.
“Today marks the first conviction under the Take It Down Act – protecting victims from non-consensual AI-generated sexually explicit images, cyberstalking, and threats of violence,” Melania wrote on X.
“Thank you US Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II for protecting Americans from cybercrimes in this new digital age,” the first lady added.
Melania made a rare trip to Capitol Hill last year to lobby congressional lawmakers to pass the bill criminalizing the distribution of non-consensual sexual imagery — including revenge porn and AI-generated material depicting child sexual abuse.
The Take It Down Act cleared the House in a 409-2 vote and was passed by the Senate via unanimous consent.
Perpetrators face up to two years in federal prison if the images feature an adult or three years if they depict a minor. Websites must also remove content within 48 hours of notification that the images violate the law, with enforcement delegated to the Federal Trade Commission.
Strahler used more than 24 AI platforms and more than 100 AI web-based models installed on his phone to engage in a “campaign of harassment” between December 2024 and June 2025, according to federal prosecutors.
He sent harassing messages to at least six adult female victims, which included nude images of the victims, both real and AI-generated, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio said.
The depraved man allegedly used AI to create videos depicting at least one adult victim engaged in sex acts with her father, which he then distributed to the victim’s co-workers.
Strahler also threatened the mothers of adult female victims that he would circulate explicit images of their daughters if they did not send him nude photos, according to prosecutors, and would repeatedly call his victims to leave voicemails of himself masturbating or threatening to rape them.
The sicko allegedly created more than 700 images of both real victims and animated persons and posted them to a website dedicated to child sexual abuse. Authorities found an additional 2,400 images and videos on his phone depicting nudity, morphed child sexual abuse material or violence.
Prosecutors say Strahler used AI to morph the faces of minor boys from his community onto the bodies of adults and create videos of them engaged in sex acts “with their mothers and/or grandmothers.”
“We believe Strahler is the first person in the United States to be convicted under the Take It Down Act,” US Attorney Dominick Gerace II said in a statement. “We will not tolerate the abhorrent practice of posting and publicizing AI-generated intimate images of real individuals without consent.
“And we are committed to using every tool at our disposal to hold accountable offenders like Strahler, who seek to intimidate and harass others by creating and circulating this disturbing content.”
Strahler will be sentenced at a later date.
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Louisiana Man Convicted of Child Rape Opts for Surgical Castration
Is it an effective deterrent, a medically sound option, or a violation of a prisoner’s constitutional rights? The debate over surgical castration, which was legalized by the state of Louisiana in 2024, will likely reach new heights, as it was part of a sentence handed down this week.
On April 6, 2026, Zachary Dewayne Doolittle pled guilty in the Louisiana state court to several charges involving sex crimes involving a minor, including first-degree rape of a child under the age of 13. As a result of a court order spurred by Louisiana’s new surgical castration law, Doolittle was forced to make what had to be a very difficult choice: an additional three to five years added to his sentence, or the removal of his testicles. Since we’re writing about this, you can probably figure out which sanction Doolittle went with.
While the heinousness of Doolittle’s offenses can’t be understated, questions about the effectiveness of castration in reducing sexual recidivism rates and its constitutionality in the face of Eighth Amendment protections are likely to flare anew. Is this practice the ultimate invasion of privacy?
Does That Fall Under Forfeiture?
Along with Governor Jeff Landry, Louisiana lawmakers released a raft of laws in 2024 designed to address criminal justice in the state. In addition to being the first state to allow the possibility of surgical castration for certain rapists, the state legislature added options for carrying out the death penalty, essentially eliminated the opportunity for parole for new convictions, limited the effectiveness of “good behavior” in shortening sentences, and instituted harsher penalties for certain crimes.
While legal sexual castration is making its first appearance in the United States, chemical castration has already been in use as a potential deterrent option. Drugs like medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) can be ordered as treatment by a court for aggravated sex offenses. It can also be taken voluntarily.
The surgical castration law received support from both Republicans and Democrats. It only applies to aggravated sex crimes that involve a victim under the age of 13. In addition, the sex offender must be over the age of 16. If the court rules that the law should be applied in a case, the defendant is presented with the option of having an additional three to five years added to their sentence (which cannot be reduced in any way) or having their gonads removed (testicles for males, ovaries for females). Application of the law is also contingent on a court-ordered “medical expert” determining that the defendant is a suitable candidate to receive the surgical procedure.
The First Cut Is the Deepest
Critics of Louisiana’s new law have been vocal, calling it a “barbaric” practice and noting that it’s legal in only a few other places (Madagascar, a part of Nigeria, and the Czech Republic). There’s very little research on the effectiveness of sexual castration for those guilty of sex abuse, as any data has been culled from patients who volunteered for the procedure. There is also uncertainty about whether testosterone levels, which affect a male’s sex drive, are higher in those convicted of sexual abuse offenses.
Arguments have been made that the mental health of those committing sexual offenses plays as big or an even larger part in the threat to public safety. There are also concerns over the vagueness of exactly what qualifications are required in the court’s “medical expert.”
Forcing a prisoner to decide whether to sacrifice time or body parts has also been accused of being cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. The Constitution doesn’t give a specific definition of what constitutes “cruel and unusual” sanctions. In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it was any practice that was “repugnant to the conscience of mankind,” which remains open to interpretation at any given time. It seems possible that, at some point, the law’s constitutionality will be challenged by a defense attorney or a human rights organization.
It’s unlikely many will shed a tear for Doolittle’s predicament, as he faced charges of first-degree rape of a family member under the age of 13, molestation of a juvenile, and promoting/advertising/producing pornography involving juveniles. He could have faced life in prison or even the death penalty for the first-degree rape, so perhaps agreeing to the surgical castration process aided his plea bargain. Regardless, he’ll be 85 after serving his full sentence, so it’s uncertain how much of an ongoing threat he’ll be if he makes it to his release date.
Related Resources
- Does Chemical Castration Count as Cruel and Unusual Punishment? (FindLaw’s Law and Daily Life)
- Chemical and Surgical Castration for Sex Offenders (FindLaw’s Criminal Charges)
- Cruel and Unusual Punishments: Examples and Your Rights (FindLaw’s Criminal Law)
