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	Lawmakers Propose Removing Age Limit to File Civil Suits over Child Sex Abuse By Arielle Levin Becker The Hartford Courant February 27, 2010 http://www.courant.com/health/hc-statute-of-limitations-reard.artfeb27,0,5449115.story HARTFORD — - State lawmakers have introduced a proposal to eliminate the statute of limitations for civil cases involving child sexual abuse, exploitation or assault, allowing victims to file lawsuits at any time in their lives. State Sen. Mary Ann Handley, D-Manchester, and state Rep. Beth Bye, D-West Hartford, described the proposal as a way to keep the legal system open to victims of crimes that often take years to come to terms with. The existing law requires victims of child sexual abuse to file lawsuits before they turn 48 — 30 years after they turn 18. "It's a very lonely kind of abuse," Handley said during a press conference Friday. "It's a kind of abuse that people try to forget, try to ignore." If the proposal passes, it could affect countless sexual abuse victims, and it would almost certainly have an impact on more than 50 lawsuits involving Dr. George Reardon, who is believed to have sexually abused as many as 500 children from the 1950s to the 1990s. Reardon died in 1998, but staggering evidence of his alleged crimes surfaced in 2007 when a homeowner renovating Reardon's former West Hartford home found a hidden cache of more than 50,000 slides and 100 reels of child pornography. Since then, about 140 people have sued St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, where Reardon worked, alleging that the hospital was negligent in failing to stop the abuse. More than 50 plaintiffs were older than 48 when they sued. Other people have said they would have sued but did not because they were too old. The first trial in the case is slated for March 2011, and plaintiff lawyers are pursuing legal arguments that could get around the statute of limitations for those over 48. The hospital has said that it did not know of the specific allegations against Reardon until 1993, when state health officials moved to revoke Reardon's license. Hartford attorney Timothy O'Keefe, whose firm represents more than 60 plaintiffs, said eliminating the time limit could have a tremendous impact. "The only ones protected by the current law are sexual predators, people that sexually abuse and exploit children and those institutions that assist and harbor them," O'Keefe said. He said many people would likely wonder, "Why are we putting the wants and desires of sexual predators and those that assist and harbor them over the needs of people that are sexually abused and exploited?" In recent years, Delaware, Alaska and Maine have eliminated their statutes of limitations in child sexual abuse cases. Bye said several other states are also considering it. During the press conference, Bye and Handley spoke of hearing stories from constituents who were abused as children and are now too old to bring legal action. Handley described two sisters who were abused by their father but who for years did not know the other was abused. By the time they decided to take legal action, they were too old. Bye read from an e-mail from a constituent who had been abused by Reardon, which noted that there is no statute of limitations for murder. "Sexual abuse is akin to murder in that it destroys an otherwise happy and healthy life," the constituent wrote. State Victim Advocate Michelle Cruz described people who come to her office with stories of abuse from years ago, looking for justice. "The truth is that a lot of people who deal with sexual abuse, they do repress these memories," Cruz said. Last year, Bye introduced a proposal, inspired by the Reardon case, that would have extended the statute of limitations for civil suits in cases where evidence is discovered that could not reasonably have been found earlier. While victims and their families testified for it and some lawmakers expressed support, the proposal drew skepticism from some lawmakers. The Archdiocese of Hartford retained law professors who argued that changing the statute of limitations would be unfair and would put institutions at particular financial risk since they could be liable indefinitely. St. Francis President and CEO Christopher Dadlez, in written testimony, argued that old cases can be difficult to defend and that the financial impact of a change "could seriously undermine our mission of providing quality care to those in need." Ultimately, the legislature's judiciary committee did not vote on Bye's proposal, effectively killing it. In a statement Friday, St. Francis said: "The legislature carefully reviewed the statute of limitations for child sex abuse cases last year and concluded that no change to Connecticut's existing law — which allows a person until age 48 (30 years from the age of majority) to bring a lawsuit — was warranted. We continue to believe that the current statute, which is one of the most generous in the country, is appropriate."
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