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	Bill Would Make More Child-Sex Crimes a Felony By Peter Smith The Courier-Journal [Kentucky] February 22, 2007 http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070222/NEWS01/70222043/1008 Those who commit any sexual offense against a child under 16 — and those who fail to report such abuse — could be charged with felonies under a bill filed by Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, D-Louisville. Making such actions a felony would allow prosecutions decades after the crimes occurred. Victims of sexual abuse have sought this change because they say it often takes years for those traumatized as children to seek justice, beyond the statute of limitations. Under current laws, some types of sexual offenses toward minors are felonies such as rape and sodomy — but other types such as fondling are misdemeanors when children 12 and older are involved. Misdemeanors have a one-year statute of limitations, after which they cannot be prosecuted. "Now it (would be) a felony, so it will extend the statute of limitations," Marzian said. "It also has a penalty for folks who know what's going on and don't report it." Jeff Koenig, one of the about 250 people who sued the Archdiocese of Louisville over sexual abuse by priests and others associated with the church, said news of the bill was "fantastic." "It's too late for me, but it's not too late for some kid that's getting it done to him right now," said Koenig, who said he could not bring charges against then-priest Daniel C. Clark for allegedly fondling him in the 1980s because he was 12 and 13 when it happened. Clark is in prison for abusing two other boys. It is now a misdemeanor for any citizen to fail to report any abuse or neglect of a child. The only exceptions — which this bill retains — are when someone learns about the abuse in a lawyer-client conversation or a clergy-penitent relationship, such as a priest hearing a confession. Marzian said House Bill 548 came in response to victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church who were dismayed over the statute of limitations. They could not bring criminal charges against some of the priests who abused them — and against church leaders who failed to report it. Catholic dioceses and religious orders operating in Kentucky have paid more than $100 million in recent years to settle lawsuits alleging cover-ups of sexual abuse over several decades. Ed Monahan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Kentucky, which lobbies for Catholic bishops, said in a statement: "We hope that the Judiciary Committee will give thorough review to the bill, and we appreciate the bill's maintain the priest-penitent privilege. We in no way oppose it." The conference opposed a past effort to repeal that privilege. It said the confessional should be confidential but that it recognizes church officials' obligation to report abuse that they learn about in any other context. Marzian added that abuse "cuts across all denominations," citing recent reports of cases among Southern Baptists. And she said a parent who fails to report another parent's abuse of a child would also be culpable. Rep. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, said she's "95 percent sure" she would give it a hearing, although she didn't think it would pass in the current short session. Marzian considers that progress. "If we just get a hearing and start educating the legislators, that is the goal," she said. "Any kind of huge change in felony statutes sometimes can take several years." Marzian said that for a 12-year-old, such abuse is "as bad as rape to me. These poor children are at the mercy of the adult that they trust." Vince Grenough of the group Voice of the Faithful, a group of lay Catholics that advocates for abuse victims, applauded the bill. He said cases of church leaders failing to report abuse "can't happen anymore." Reporter Peter Smith can be reached at (502) 582-4469 or psmith@courier-journal.com.
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