By David O'Reilly
Philadelphia Inquirer
March 2, 2011
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pennsylvania/117220838.html
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| State Rep. Michael P. McGeehan (D. Phila.), whose bill would create a two-year "window" of opportunity for victims to sue. |
HARRISBURG - Spurred by last month's explosive grand jury report on child sex abuse by priests of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, two state lawmakers from the city introduced legislation Tuesday that would make it easier for victims of sexual assault to seek justice.
One bill proposes abolishing both the criminal and civil statutes of limitations on all future sexual attacks on children.
Since 2006, victims whose cases had not expired under previous statutes have had until age 50 to bring criminal charges against their alleged assailants, and until age 30 to file civil suits.
The other new bill would create a two-year "window" of opportunity, starting in July, that would allow victims to sue no matter how long ago they were abused.
Introduced by Rep. Mike McGeehan, it is modeled on legislation adopted in 2007 by Delaware. By the time the "window" there closed in July 2009, 200 accusers had stepped forward. About 150 of them sued the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, which recently settled out of court for $77 million.
"It will be a difficult road" to win support of both houses of the Pennsylvania legislature and both parties, McGeehan predicted. But he voiced confidence that lawmakers would sign on once they learned the horrific consequences of child sex abuse.
A similar effort to open a civil "window" proved unsuccessful in 2006, following the first grand jury investigation into abusive clergy in the Philadelphia archdiocese.
A Democrat in his 11th term and a lifelong Catholic, McGeehan conceded that he was among the lawmakers who did not support the measure back then, even though the panel's report alleged that 63 current and former priests of the archdiocese had sexually assaulted minors over five decades. It also accused archdiocesan leaders of an "immoral cover-up" of those crimes.
Owing to the narrowness of Pennsylvania's criminal statute of limitations at that time, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office did not criminally charge anyone.
"I was shocked by that first report, but not moved to act," McGeehan said after the news conference. He had given church leaders "the benefit of the doubt" that they would take the necessary steps to protect children and respond to victims. But the 2011 grand jury, he said, "blew the doors off the facade that they can police themselves."
Its report led to felony charges against two priests, one defrocked priest, and a parochial-school teacher for allegedly raping and sodomizing two altar boys in the 1990s. A monsignor who had served as Cardinal Bevilacqua's secretary for clergy was indicted on two counts of child endangerment for his role in assigning the priests.
The panel also asserted that the archdiocese had kept as many as 37 clergymen in active ministry despite accusations of inappropriate behavior with minors.
The legislators and victims who gathered Tuesday in the Capitol Rotunda stressed that sexual abuse was not a uniquely "Catholic" problem or one confined to clergy and that the proposed legislation was not targeted at the Catholic Church.
Rep. Louise Williams Bishop, also a Democrat, introduced the bill calling for the elimination of the statute of limitations on child-sex-abuse crimes. Should it become law, sexually assaulted children would have their entire lives to sue their assailants or to press criminal charges against them.
"It's time for broken lives to be put together again," said Bishop, who at the news conference was flanked by adult victims of child abuse. Several of them recounted, in quavering voices, the stories of their shattered lives.
Despite pledges of support from a handful of lawmakers who stepped to the microphones, the bills' prospects were uncertain.
After some legislators proposed the "window" statute in 2006, Rep. Thomas R. Caltagirone (D., Berks), then chairman of the House judiciary committee, pledged to defeat the measure, saying it sought only to win large monetary judgments for the victims. Caltagirone refused to call hearings that would have allowed victims to tell the committee about their abuse and its long-term psychological damage.
Now the minority chairman of the committee, Caltagirone said in a statement Tuesday that he remained opposed to a window.
"Our current laws ensure that those claims [of sexual assault] are filed in a timely manner when evidence in their claim is readily available," he said. "Over the last decade, the legislature developed what is believed to be a reasonable period of time to present such claims. A victim has been given 12 years past their 18th birthday to bring forth [civil] claims against an individual who committed an unspeakable act against them."
Through a spokeswoman, Rep. Ron Marsico (R., Dauphin), who now heads the judiciary committee, said he had not committed himself to the idea of a civil window. The spokeswoman said he told her that "the committee's plate is already full" with bills and that he could not predict whether these would make it to the floor for a vote this year.
In a one-sentence statement late Tuesday afternoon, the Philadelphia archdiocese said it was "reviewing the proposed legislation."
The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, a lobbying organization that represents the state's 10 Roman Catholic dioceses, including the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, said it had not had a chance to study the new bills.
However, Amy Hill, the conference's spokeswoman, said in a statement that it had in the past "opposed the idea of opening a 'window' . . . because it would be unworkable."
"Over time, memories fade, evidence is lost or never found, and in many instances, perpetrators or witnesses may be deceased," she said. "The passage of time makes it nearly impossible for a church or any other organization to defend itself against allegations from 30, 40, and 50 years ago."
In addition to Delaware, California passed a one-year civil window in 2003 that brought forward about 1,000 victims. Of those, 850 sued various Catholic dioceses, which settled the cases for an average of $1.2 million per victim.
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