NEW YORK
Poughkeepsie Journal
By Anthony Farmer
Poughkeepsie Journal
In 2002, during the growing sex abuse scandal in the Catholic church, state legislators pledged swift approval of a new law that would punish church officials who try to cover up such acts by fellow priests.
Three years later, a law still isn't in place and it could be well into 2006 before lawmakers get a chance to approve one.
Bills introduced by Sen. Steve Saland, R-Poughkeepsie, and Assemblyman John McEneny, D-Albany, would add members of the clergy to the list of occupations required to report suspected abuse against children. Clergy would then have to report sex abuse of children by priests and other clergy to authorities.
Each legislator's bill has been approved in their respective houses, but McEneny and Saland are at odds over differences in the two bills.
The main sticking points arise over how abuse is defined and to what extent social workers and other counselors would be required to report what they learn about teenagers' sex lives.
A leader of a group representing victims abused by priests said there's no reason the state shouldn't have the law in place. The bills vary only slightly and the differences should be able to be worked out, said Mark Lyman, co-director of the Capital Region Chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.