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	Group Urges Missouri Prosecutors to Investigate Clergy Sex Abuse Hammer Law Firm May 12, 2011 http://www.missouricriminallawattorney.com/2011/05/group-urges-missouri-prosecutors-to-investigate-clergy-sex-abuse.shtml On behalf of The Hammer Law Firm, LLC posted in Criminal Defense on Thursday, May 12, 2011 As more sex abuse allegations are made against priests and other members of the clergy in Missouri and throughout the United States, several activist groups are working to motivate state and local prosecutors to open criminal cases against the alleged abusers and the church. But prosecutors have been hesitant to investigate and prosecute the sex crimes cases, due largely to statutes of limitations that disqualify many of the alleged abusers from prosecution. Recently, an activist group called the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests held a news conference in front of the Jackson County Courthouse in Kansas City. During the event, group leaders urged Jackson County prosecutors to launch a grand jury investigation into the allegations of clergy sexual abuse and assault as well as into local and national church leaders' response to the allegations. In response, Rebecca Summers, spokesperson for the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, said that the church is working to resolve the sex abuse allegations. She said that the diocese had stepped up its internal investigations, suspending and removing priests and other church officials who appeared to have committed abuse. Despite these assurances, the activist group has asked the prosecutors to use whatever means possible to prosecute the alleged crimes, citing a recent case in Pennsylvania in which prosecutors used an outdated, archaic law from the 1980s to charge several priests and church officials. "In criminal matters, where there's a will, there's a way," a representative stated in a letter. "We have seen police and prosecutors across the U.S. becoming increasingly aggressive and creative about pursuing even older child sex crimes." This raises an interesting question: should the laws be changed to allow for the prosecution of child sex abuse by priests from 10, 20, or even 30 years ago? Or are the purposes served by the statutes of limitation - preservation of evidence, accuracy of witness memory - sufficient reason to keep the laws as they are?
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