DENVER (CO)
Denver Post
By Eric Gorski
Denver Post Staff Writer
As allegations of child sex abuse build against a former priest of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver, at least two Colorado legislators are crafting bills that would loosen or do away with statutes of limitations for child sexual abuse.
Democratic State Sen. Joan Fitz-Gerald, the Senate president and a Catholic, has filed paperwork to introduce a bill in 2006 that would give adults victimized as minors more time to file civil lawsuits. One strong possibility, she said, is legislation mirroring a California law that opened a one-year window for child sex-abuse lawsuits regardless of how long ago the incidents took place.
State Rep. Rosemary Marshall, D-Denver, said she will introduce a bill that would eliminate the statute of limitations for criminal charges involving sexual offenses against children. Courts have held that such laws can apply only to future cases and not be retroactive, so victims from decades ago would not be able to bring charges.
Both legislators said they were motivated by the clergy sexual-abuse scandal that has plagued U.S. Catholic dioceses since 2002. In Colorado, 17 men have told The Denver Post in recent weeks that former priest Harold Robert White molested them over a 20-year period beginning in the 1960s. Evidence has surfaced showing the Denver archdiocese knew about complaints and continued to move him from parish to parish.