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	Catholic Church Lobbying to Retain the Current Time Restrictions on Lawsuits against Institutions By Dara Kam Palm Beach Post April 8, 2010 http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/catholic-church-lobbying-to-retain-the-current-time-535735.html TALLAHASSEE — A decades-old scandal in which a Wisconsin priest is accused of molesting more than 200 deaf boys could be the saving grace for a proposed change to Florida law that the Catholic Church has fought for six years and is still fighting. State law gives victims of certain sex offenses, including "non-forcible rape" of children age 12 and older, until they are 21 to press charges. Lawsuits must be filed before the victim reaches age 26. Under Florida law, Wisconsin priest Lawrence C. Murphy, who died in 1999 after admitting he abused boys in his care at a school for the deaf and blind, could not be charged with the crimes if he were still alive and neither could the religious institution that allowed the molestation to continue. Michael Dolce, a Royal Palm Beach lawyer who says he was sexually molested by a neighbor when he was 7 years old, has tried for six years to do away with the statute of limitations. He's even started a petition drive to change the state constitution because he says the Catholic Church has thwarted his efforts to get lawmakers to take away the time limits. Dolce, a former Catholic whose brother is a monk, has a better chance this year than ever before, in part because of the attention surrounding the Wisconsin priest. Even as Dolce captivated the Florida Senate Judiciary Committee today with his first-person account of the horrific abuse that still haunts him, news reports about the Catholic Church scandal in Wisconsin were broadcast on national news. "That's why I voted for the bill. I think people who prey on children should be held accountable in a court of law," said committee chairman Joe Negron, R-Stuart, referring to the Wisconsin case. "I think it's appropriate and the evidence was very compelling that the minor victims of these crimes ... frequently wait many, many years into adulthood until they are disclosed." The Florida Catholic Conference supports doing away with the statute of limitations for the individuals who commit the crimes. But the conference and its lobbyists — who have never testified before any committee in the House or Senate on the measures (SB 870, HB 525) — have tried quietly to amend the measure to retain the current time restrictions on lawsuits against institutions like the Catholic Church. The church objects because "of the passage of time and the very reasons that statutes of limitations exist, the inability to find any information that relates to it," said Mike McCarron, executive director of the Florida Catholic Conference. "It's just a very difficult thing to defend against when you go out without any time limit whatsoever." But he said, "We haven't talked to an awful lot of people about this." The conference's lobbyists and a lobbyist for the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers have tried at least three times to get the bill's sponsors, Sen. Dave Aronberg and Rep. Chris Dorworth, to change the bill, according to e-mails obtained by The Palm Beach Post. The conference's lobbyist, Mia McKown, sent Aronberg, D-Greenacres, an e-mail in February with an amendment that would make the change apply only to individuals. On Friday, she sent him an amendment that would have exempted any institution, organization or other group that uses background checks on employees or volunteers and has policies designed to protect minors from sexual abuse, as the Catholic Church does. On Monday, the criminal defense lawyers' lobbyist, Jorge Chamizo, sent Aronberg an amendment that would have extended the current statute of limitations to 10 years after the victim reaches age 21. Dorworth, R-Lake Mary, said his bill, headed to the House floor, would not be amended. And Aronberg also refused to allow his bill to be watered-down. "The Wisconsin case and recent news reports shows why we need to extend the statute of limitations to allow for justice in cases like this," said Aronberg, who is running for attorney general and also sponsored the bill last year. "I can't come up with a limit that's better than no limit at all." The committee overwhelmingly approved the bill although Sen. Carey Baker objected to it because he said that there's no way to defend against false allegations after decades pass. "Now we're just talking about suing somebody ... I guess that would provide some closure. I doubt it. Typically those suits aren't about that. They seem to be about the money," Baker, R-Eustis said. "I just Googled up a story about a man who was falsely imprisoned for 20 years. Got out when he was 61. He's not here today. He's not here to tell you about the 20 years that he lost from his life from false imprisonment. I don't know. There's no good answer."
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