PENNSYLVANIA
The Daily Times
By PATTI MENGERS, pmengers@delcotimes.com 03/21/2005
John Salveson says he is through trying to reason with church officials in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia about how they handle victims of clerical sexual abuse.
"The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has neither the courage nor the integrity to do the right thing by people they victimize. Instead, they hide behind the statute of limitations," he said last Tuesday.
The 49-year-old Radnor resident, who was allegedly abused by a priest as a teenager in Long Island, N.Y., has been regional director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, also known as SNAP, since 2002.
His ire was ignited March 14 after a three-judge Superior Court panel upheld an August ruling by Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Arnold L. New dismissing 16 sexual abuse lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia based on the statute of limitations.
"Our No.1-priority in Philadelphia for SNAP is to get those laws changed," said Salveson.