4/13 Story of the Day Religious Battle Heats up over Sex Abuse Bill, by Shayndi Raice, Brooklyn Ink, April 13, 2009

4/13 Story of the Day: Religious Battle Heats up over Sex Abuse Bill

By Shayndi Raice
Brooklyn Ink
April 13, 2009

http://thebrooklynink.com/dailystory/413-story-of-the-day-religious-battle-heats-up-over-sex-abuse-bill

Joel Engleman made a deal: If the rabbis in Williamsburg fired the teacher that molested him as a child, he would forgo a public lawsuit that would embarrass the ultra-Orthodox community. The teacher was fired. Then right after Engleman's 23rd birthday when the statute of limitations had run out on his case, the rabbi who allegedly molested him was rehired.

Vito Lopez

A fierce battle is underway between legislators, religious groups and victims' advocates over whether Engleman, and others like him who were abused as a child but did not come forward until after the statute of limitations ran out on their case, should be allowed to have their day in court. Two competing bills are being considered by New York legislators to extend the statute of limitations on child sex abuse cases that have touched a religious nerve in Brooklyn, pitting religious institutions, like the Catholic Church and some ultra-Orthodox rabbis who are fearful of a storm of alleged victims coming forward and seeking financial compensation, against victims groups and trial lawyers.

Both bills extend the age at which a victim can come forward. Currently, the statute of limitations is five years from the time a child victim turns 18. Assembly Member Margaret Markey's bill extends the time from which the statute of limitations begins from 18 to 23, giving victims until the age of 28 to file a criminal or civil lawsuit. The other bill, proposed by Assembly Member Vito Lopez, would extend the statute of limitations by two years, until the victim is 25. Beyond that, there is a key difference: Markey's bill creates a one-year "window" from the time the bill is signed into law that allows victims of child sex abuse of any age to come forward. So, for example, a 70-year old man who was molested by a priest at the age of five can file a lawsuit against the Catholic Church, even if the priest is long dead. Victims' advocates say the window clause is essential because most victims are not psychologically able to come forward in their twenties.

The Lopez does not provide for the one-year window. Its detractors say it is simply a disguised attempt to kill the Markey bill.

The one-year window, in short, is the battleground. Its proponents, including Markey, see it as key to allowing longsuffering victims to seek justice. Its enemies see it as a lawyer's dream and an attack on religious institutions.

The fight, which was initially restricted to a behind-the-scenes legislative kerfluffle in Albany, has made its way from the statehouse to the streets of New York. Supporters of the Markey bill from New York City and across the state will be traveling to Albany on Tuesday, April 21 to demonstrate in front of the state capital in support of the bill. On the opposing side, the Catholic Church has moved forward with a harsh publicity campaign against the Markey bill, saying it is anti-religious and discriminatory.

One highly vocal enemy of the Lopez bill who will be attending the rally is Marci Hamilton, a professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Hamilton helped craft child abuse reform legislation in California and Delaware that extended the statute of limitations and opened a one-year window for victims of all ages to come forward. "The Lopez Bill is being inserted into the process for the purpose of killing all statute of limitations legislation. This is solely to kill any child abuse reform," Hamilton said.

When California extended the statute of limitations on child sex abuse and opened that one-year window, 1,000 lawsuits were filed. Nearly 800 of the victims said they were abused by priests and sued the Catholic Church. The Church paid out close to $1 billion. Fearful of a repeat in New York, The New York State Catholic Conference, the public policy branch of the Catholic Church in New York, has thrown its support behind the Lopez bill. The group is heavily lobbying state legislators to oppose the Markey bill, which it says is specifically designed to target religious institutions.

The Catholic Conference has been asking its members to write to their elected officials and quash the Markey bill. On its website, the group claims: "It is clear that this bill is not about justice for victims of sexual abuse. Instead it involves a thinly disguised targeting of religious institutions by a coalition of trial lawyers who seek to enrich themselves by seizing Church properties. Where we see churches and schools built and supported with our contributions, they see only valuable real estate to acquire and sell. These lawyers are aided by a group of politicians, many of whom are hostile toward the Church over our stand on issues such as abortion or same-sex marriage."

Dennis Poust, a spokesperson for the group, added that a one-year window would do nothing to help uncover the truth. "When you're going so many years backward and there's so little ability to defend yourself, the diocese ends up being forced into these large scale settlements," he said. "Certainly there's a concern that there would be large numbers of people coming forward and a complete inability for us to determine eligibility. It doesn't matter if people are dead and there's nothing on file. How do you defend against that? It's very very difficult."

But victims groups strongly disagree. "The statute of limitations was meant to provide an orderly and systematic procedure for bringing claims. They were never meant to leave 95 percent of claimants outside the courthouse doors," said Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests and an organizer of the Albany rally. "But what's so sad is because we have not been able to expose our perpetrators, most of our perpetrators have just moved on."

Blaine, who says she was abused by a priest as a child, said the one-year window is the most essential aspect of the bill because it allows for current perpetrators to finally be identified. "If someone had warned my mom that that priest was abusing kids, I bet my mom would have kept me away from him," she said. "We bet the moms and dads in New York will keep their children away if they know the identity of their predators."

For the first time, the Jewish community in Brooklyn has a strong stake in the outcome of child sex abuse reform. Highly publicized cases like that of Joel Engleman – the young man who was allegedly abused by his rabbi as a child – have brought child sex abuse in the ultra-Orthodox community under a spotlight. The exceedingly private and tight-knit nature of the ultra-Orthodox community makes it nearly impossible for victims to come forward. Recent press and public outrage over the Engleman case have allowed Orthodox victims to ban together and lobby for the Markey bill.

Lonnie Soury, president of Survivors for Justice, an Orthodox group of victims of child sexual abuse, said the Lopez bill is a "straw man" meant to protect the church and rabbis. "I think it's a shocking development and one that's unfortunate and clearly does not have the interest of the children at heart," he said of the Lopez bill. "This is completely to try to thwart Marge Markey's bill. That's what we believe."

Many mainstream Orthodox, and even some ultra-Orthodox groups have come out in support of the Markey bill. The United Jewish Organization, a powerful ultra-Orthodox group in Williamsburg with close ties to Vito Lopez, has come out against the Markey bill. Rabbi David Niederman, the executive director, did not return repeated phone calls for comment.

One of the more perplexing moves in this battle has been that of Assembly Member Dov Hikind, who represents the ultra-Orthodox community of Boro Park. Hikind has made child sex abuse education and reform a battle cry in recent months, saying the ultra-Orthodox community has been "living in the dark ages" on this issue. "There is no question that the Catholic Church and some of the Jewish groups are very nervous about that one-year window," he said. "On the other hand, what have they done to deal with sexual abuse in their schools? I keep on meeting victims who are still in such pain after 25 years. A lot of people have become emboldened. We've kept this issue alive within the heart of the haredei (ultra-Orthodox) community. There are a lot of people out there who are waiting for their day of justice."

Hikind, however, said he supports both the Markey bill and the Lopez bill. But he said it's purely for pragmatic reasons. "I'm trying to deal with the reality," said Hikind. "There's no question that the Markey bill is a stronger bill, a better bill. I'm not sure that her bill has the votes to pass. I don't like the Lopez bill. … I just want to see something get done that helps the cause."

But Orthodox victims' advocates like Soury said Hikind's approach is not beneficial. "He's tried to play a role that originally we thought was helpful," he said, noting Hikind's attempts to educate the Orthodox community on the sex abuse in their midst. "Now I think it's very confusing and I don't have a particular perspective, but I don't think it's helpful. At this point, I don't think Dov Hikind is being helpful."

In California and Delaware, there were few, if any, Jewish claimants, according to Hamilton, the law professor. But, she said Jewish victims of sexual abuse have banded together in recent months, bringing their fight against sex abuse to the forefront. "They really came to life in New York," she said of Orthodox victims. "Since the fall, we've been learning about the degree of abuse in the ultra-Orthodox community, and the Jewish victims have banded together in a very efficient fashion. They are a major force here."