PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia Inquirer
By David O’Reilly
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
A three-judge panel of the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled unanimously yesterday against 18 adults seeking to sue the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for sex abuse they alleged happened many years ago.
The judges said that even though the alleged abuse was "inexcusable," Pennsylvania's statute of limitations trumped any right to sue on the grounds that the archdiocese had unlawfully interfered with the victims' timely reporting of their abuse.
C. Clark Hodgson Jr., who represented the archdiocese in the Feb. 16 arguments, said yesterday he believed the court's decision effectively blocked such suits against dioceses across the state.
Richard Serbin, an Altoona lawyer who helped to develop the legal strategy that the court rejected, said he was disappointed by the ruling. He said he and his co-counsel, Jay Abramowitch of Berks County, intended to appeal the ruling to the Pennyslvania Supreme Court.
Posted by kshaw at March 14, 2005 06:04 PM