By Lynn Bartels
Rocky Mountain News [Colorado]
March 6, 2007
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5397902,00.html
A Golden lawmaker who last year took on pedophile priests and other sexual predators is back this year with a proposal to give victims a longer time period in which to sue.
Rep. Gwyn Green, a Democrat, said Monday she had a bill drafted but has not decided when to introduce it. Green declined to release specifics about her bill and said she is still wrangling over what time frame to propose.
"I wanted pedophiles to know they're accountable, and I want institutions to know they're accountable," she said Monday.
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| Gwyn Green, D-Golden, is "haunted" by victims' tales. |
But Green's draft proposal already has raised concerns by those who believe it might not give victims enough time to sue.
"We need to be smart about what we're doing so we've not handed institutions a way of not facing their responsibilities," said lobbyist Ted Trimpa, who represents the Sexual Abuse Prevention Network.
Trimpa said he wants to work with Green because she's "doing this for the right reasons."
Jeanette DeMelo, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Denver, said the church has heard that a bill would be introduced.
Under current Colorado law, victims have until they are age 24, or within six years of discovering the abuse created problems for them, to file suit.
Last year, Green sponsored a bill that would have allowed victims unlimited time to file future lawsuits against private institutions if those institutions tried to cover up sexual abuse. The Catholic Church felt it was being unfairly singled out.
The bill eventually was amended to include public schools and governments. Those groups then joined in opposing the measure. The sponsors let their bill die rather than see it weakened.
Green, who is Catholic, criticized the Catholic Church, saying its leaders personally attacked her over the bill last year.
"They didn't deter me then, and it won't deter me now," she said.
Green said one reason she wanted to come back with another bill this session is because she was "haunted" last year by the stories of survivors.
In some cases, she said, witnesses had been urged by their friends to get counseling for their addictions and anger. Some were in their late 40s before they realized that the sexual abuse had damaged them, and then more years passed before they were able to deal with the issue and contemplate suing.
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