BishopAccountability.org
	Legislators Considering Elimination of Statute of Limitations in Sex Abuse Cases New Haven Register February 27, 2010 http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/02/27/news/a3-abuse.txt HARTFORD — State lawmakers are considering whether to eliminate the 30-year statute of limitations on civil lawsuits filed in child sexual abuse cases. Proponents of the idea said Friday they’ve been motivated by stories from constituents who were abused as children decades ago, including patients of Dr. George Reardon, a Hartford doctor who is believed to have victimized hundreds of children beginning in the 1950s. Rep. Beth Bye, D-West Hartford, said 13 of her constituents believe they were victims of Reardon, but six cannot pursue lawsuits because of the statute of limitations and because the current law includes a cutoff once a victim reaches the age of 48. “They call and they say, ‘Please, please keep pursuing this, Representative Bye, because we were abused and we have no recourse because of this line the Connecticut General Assembly has drawn in the sand,“’ Bye said. A similar bill was proposed last year but died in committee. It has been raised for consideration this session and a public hearing is expected in the coming weeks. Connecticut lawmakers set the 30-year limit in 2002. Three years ago, there was an effort to extend the limit to 40 years, but representatives of the Roman Catholic Church voiced concern. The dioceses of Bridgeport, Hartford and Norwich have settled with victims of various priest sex abuse cases in recent years. Messages seeking comment on the new proposal were not immediately returned by the Connecticut Catholic Conference and St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, where Reardon worked. In 2007, an attorney for the conference questioned how an accused person could defend against 40-year-old allegations, considering some witnesses could be dead or their memories unreliable. The chancellor of the Bridgeport diocese said the 40-year statute-of-limitation bill threatened to deplete the church’s resources that support charitable works. Sen. Mary Ann Handley, D-Manchester, said the legislation is not just about the church. She said two of her constituents who are sisters have recently come to grips with having been sexually abused by their father, but it is too late for them to take him to court. Handley said it’s not unusual for victims to wait years before coming forward. “It’s a very lonely kind of abuse,” she said. “It’s the kind of abuse that people try to forget, try to ignore.”
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.