MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe
By Raphael Lewis, Globe Staff | August 4, 2005
Frustrated that the Legislature has yet to act in the wake of the clergy sexual abuse scandal, state Senator Steven A. Baddour and 10 Merrimac Valley residents launched an effort yesterday for a 2006 ballot referendum that would abolish the statute of limitations in criminal and civil cases involving sexual abuse of minors.
Baddour, a Methuen Democrat, said the abuse allegations that rocked the Catholic Church in 2002 demonstrated that current laws, which limit the time victims have to file criminal charges and civil claims, often allow pedophiles to escape accountability.
''They shouldn't be able to hide behind the statute of limitations," Baddour said. ''In the Catholic Church scandal, they scared these kids for decades."
State Representative Ronald Mariano, a Quincy Democrat, filed a similar bill in December 2003, but it went nowhere. It was filed again in December 2004 but has yet to get a hearing.
For the measure to appear on the ballot, backers must gather roughly 66,000 signatures this fall. If the Legislature doesn't approve it by May 2006, supporters would have to gather about 11,000 additional signatures for it to appear on the ballot that November.