Legislators introduced a bill Friday that would eliminate the civil statute for childhood sexual assault cases that was met with bipartisan support.

Under current Wisconsin law, adults who were abused as children must report the abuse before they reach the age of 35 in order to press charges. Sen. Jullie Lassa, D-Stevens Point, and Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, introduced the Child Victims Act which, if passed, would allow charges to be pressed against any child abuser, regardless of the victim’s current age.

Suder said there are about 39 million survivors of child abuse in the United States, adding most victims of child abuse don't begin coping with their traumatic experiences until the age of 18.

The FBI reports 90 percent of child abuse is never reported to law enforcement and 30 percent of cases will never be reported to anyone — including family and friends, according to Suder.

"The reason we're doing this is that we firmly believe there should not be a statue of limitation when it comes to seeking justice against child molesters," Suder said. "We truly believe that victims of these crimes need more time."

Suder said the Child Victim Act is modeled after a similar bill that passed unanimously in both houses in the Delaware State Legislature.

"We're working really closely with both state and national organizations," Suder said. "We have a lot of backing from both state and national groups, and once this is passed, we will put Wisconsin as a leader against these crimes, and we'll be protecting our children."

University of Wisconsin social work professor Rosemarie Carbino said there is an endless number of reasons why children might not report their abuse, including the children feeling the abuse is their fault, the situation could be embarrassing for the children or the children may feel they are being disloyal to the person, especially when the abuse is from an acquaintance.

"Most child abuse incidents are when the children are abused from people they know, such as family members, friends of family members, trusted friends of families," Carbino said. "Even sometimes they are asked not to tell because there will be consequences … or at times the child can also be threatened."

Removing the civil statute of limitations on childhood sexual abuse cases would allow victims to expose their perpetrators, Lassa said in a statement released Friday.

"The Child Victims Act will allow victims of sexual abuse to have their day in court and keep offenders from preying on other innocent children and hold them accountable for their actions," Lassa said.