Senate OKs bill to help prosecutors combat sex crimes

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) – Kentucky lawmakers have taken another step toward closing a legal loophole in some sex-abuse cases if the young victims can’t provide specific dates and places of the alleged abuse.

The measure sailed through the state Senate on a 36-0 vote Thursday.

A similar bill has already passed the House.

The bills stem from a state Supreme Court ruling that overturned a man’s conviction of assaulting his 6-year-old stepdaughter multiple times over a five-month period.

The measures would close the loophole by creating a “continuous course of conduct” law.

That would allow children or vulnerable adults to testify to a pattern of abuse without being penalized for not remembering the exact dates and places the abuse occurred.