The Law and Sex Abuse at Horace Mann My colleague William Glaberson has an article in today's New York Times about the legal implications of the abuses detailed in "Prep-School Predators," which appeared in the magazine this past Sunday. They are few. Because of New York State's statute of limitations - one of the most restrictive in the nation - it seems pretty clear that no one who spoke about the experiences described in the magazine has any legal recourse. That hasn't stopped the Bronx district attorney, Robert T. Johnson, from taking an interest in the story. At the request of Christine C. Quinn, the speaker of the City Council, he set up a special hotline to give students who claim to have been abused at Horace Mann a way to report their experiences. According to Glaberson's article, there is at least the possibility of legislative redress. He writes that a Queens assemblywoman, Margaret M. Markey, is sponsoring a bill that would permit civil suits by victims until they turn 28 and that would also create a one-year period for the courts to consider old abuse claims. Markey, he continues, has said that the Horace Mann cases have seemingly "changed the political landscape, in part by shifting the focus from the Catholic Church." The accounts show that, in her words, "It can happen to anyone."