Before entering Congress, U.S. Rep. Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green) voted against allowing survivors of childhood sexual abuse to pursue civil lawsuits over assaults committed decades earlier, joining a Republican majority that stripped a critical provision from Ohio legislation following intense lobbying by the Catholic Church.
On March 29, 2006, Latta was among 57 Ohio House members who voted against restoring a one-year window that would have allowed survivors to file lawsuits over childhood sexual abuse dating back as far as 35 years. The amendment to Senate Bill 17 was defeated 57–38.
The vote was documented in a March 30, 2006, report by The Toledo Blade, which explicitly identified Latta among northwest Ohio Republicans who opposed restoring the provision.
The proposal would have given adults whose childhood sexual abuse claims were already barred by Ohio’s statute of limitations a new opportunity to seek damages. It also could have allowed survivors to use the civil discovery process to obtain records from institutions accused of concealing abuse.
The Ohio Senate had previously approved the measure with the lawsuit window intact. But after extensive lobbying by Catholic Church officials, the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee removed the provision. An effort to restore it on the House floor failed, with Latta voting against it.
The final legislation expanded reporting requirements for clergy and extended filing deadlines for certain childhood sexual abuse cases. But it denied survivors with previously expired claims the opportunity to pursue damages under the proposed one-year window.
In place of that provision, lawmakers approved a civil registry intended to publicly identify abusers through a separate court process. Barbara Blaine, then-president of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, condemned the alternative as “a shallow, empty promise.” The registry was subsequently found unconstitutional and has never become an effective substitute for the rejected lawsuit window, according to a 2026 WCPO investigation.
Twenty years later, Ohio lawmakers are trying again
Latta’s vote has renewed significance as Ohio lawmakers revisit the same issue two decades later.
In September 2026, Republican state Sen. Bill Blessing announced plans to pursue legislation eliminating time limits for childhood sexual abuse claims and creating a new window for survivors to revive lawsuits that have been barred for decades.
Blessing publicly committed to reforming Ohio’s statute of limitations, while acknowledging that the proposal would face resistance from institutions concerned about the financial consequences of lawsuits involving historical abuse.
The renewed effort brings Ohio back to a legislative battle that lawmakers, including Latta, settled against survivors in 2006. For those whose claims expired before they could seek damages, the opportunity rejected two decades ago remains at the center of the fight.
Latta has spent 35 years in elected office. His political career began in 1991 as a Wood County commissioner, followed by service in the Ohio Senate from 1997 to 2000 and the Ohio House from 2001 to 2007. He entered Congress in December 2007 and has held Ohio’s 5th Congressional District seat for nearly 19 years.
Now seeking another term, Latta faces Democratic challenger Brian Shaver of Fostoria, the president of Fostoria City Council, in the November 3 election.
