PENNSYLVANIA
The Daily Times
For the victims of sexually abusive priests in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, justice has been elusive. Because of Pennsylvania’s two-year statute of limitations, the alleged victims of 63 priests named last month in a Philadelphia grand jury report are unable to file criminal charges.
While the statute was expanded about two years ago to allow abuse charges to be filed up until the victim’s 30th birthday, it has proved useless to the victims who had the courage to testify before the grand jury.
Their abuse allegedly occurred 10, 20, 30, even 40 years ago. Some say they were victimized as far back as the 1950s.
Eighteen of these alleged victims of clerical sexual abuse-- 10 who are current or former Delaware County residents -- were uncovered through civil suits they filed against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on the premise that archdiocesan officials knowingly harbored the pedophiles.
Posted by kshaw at October 24, 2005 07:54 PM