BOSTON (MA)
Lowell Sun
By ERIK ARVIDSON, Sun Statehouse Bureau
BOSTON -- Advocates for victims of child sexual abuse urged lawmakers yesterday to repeal the three-year statute of limitations on civil lawsuits against alleged abusers, saying the changes would help protect children.
Proponents of legislation that would lift the limitations statute, including an attorney representing people who alleged they were abused by priests, said the current law doesn't recognize that it can take decades for victims to come to terms with their abuse.
John Mackey, a Tewksburyt selectman and the town's retired police chief, said all alleged victims of child sexual abuse have the right to face the perpetrator in court, even if the alleged abuse occurred long ago.
“Many of these victims didn't have the opportunity to pursue their case criminally and are looking to do it civilly,” Mackey said at a hearing of the Legislature's Judiciary Committee, which is reviewing the bill. “They'll have the opportunity to stand up and confront the person that abused them, and that's a very major thing in a person's life who has gone through this type of abuse.”