House Judiciary Committee Passes Legislation to Strengthen Laws for Child Abuse Victims

By Jan Murphy
The Patriot-News
June 21, 2012

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/06/house_judiciary_committee_pass.html

The House Judiciary Committee approved legislation that child protection advocates see as making good steps forward in helping future victims of child sexual abuse.

A bill, sponsored by committee Chairman Ron Marsico, R-Lower Paxton Twp., would lift the statute of limitations on criminal prosecutions in child sexual assault cases. It also would extend the statute of limitations in civil proceedings until the victim reaches age 50.

Current state statutes give victims until age 50 to press criminal charges and until age 30 to file a civil suit against their abusers.

Marsico said that while he would have preferred to wait to hear from the Task Force on Child Protection that is currently review the state's child protection laws. But child protection advocates were pressuring the committee to act, including one who took out an ad urging action by Marsico's committee.

That, along with efforts by two Democratic lawmakers who introduced similar legislation to force a House vote on the bill, convinced Marsico to act on what he described as "a few discrete reasonable points."

Rep. Ron Marsico

He saw his legislation, along with two similar bills that his committee also approved, as "a constitutional solution that will put the monsters that prey on children behind bars," Marsico said.

The House could possibly consider the legislation in the fall, said House Republican spokesman Steve Miskin. But added the leaders want to see what the task force recommends.

The task force - formed in the wake of the allegations made against Jerry Sandusky who is on trial for sexually assaulting 10 boys - is required to deliver its recommendations on child protection law changes it sees as necessary by November to Gov. Tom Corbett and the General Assembly.

Absent from Marsico's bill was a provision for a two-year window in which victims who otherwise aged out of the statute of limitations could file civil suits.

Marsico said, "Opening a window for old and stale claims does nothing to protect today's children. I got to be frank with you, while a window is what (advocates) wanted, it may fill a lawyer's pocket with attorney's fees but allowing old claims does not stop today's predators."

Marci Hamilton, a law professor and child advocate who is representing child sex abuse victims, said the legislation that the committee moved are steps in the right direction but more work needs to be done to get that window to project justice for past abuse victims.

The window is needed, she said, because Pennsylvania has had such short statute of limitations that thousands, possibly millions, of victims, particularly of incest, are unable to file claims against their abusers.

"We're talking about justice. Survivors need it and the state of Pennsylvania continues to shut down victims in all circumstances in the vast majority of cases," she said.

If the bills the committee enacted become law, she added, "It'll be better for children in the future, no question, but for the vast majority of victims in Pennsylvania they are still shut out of the courthouse."

John Salveson, president of the Foundation to Abolish Child Sex Abuse, expressed gratitude to the Republican and Democratic committee chairmen for acting on the issue.

"While we continue to believe that we should remove the statute of limitations completely for both criminal and civil proceedings, (the bills that the committee approved) are definitely steps in the right direction," Salveson said.