Victims First? State's Sordid History of Abuse Cases Shows It's Time to Change the Laws
By Patriot-News Editorial Board
The latest charges against former Penn State President Graham Spanier, Athletic Director on leave Tim Curley and former Vice President Gary Schultz are yet another reminder that the university’s former administrators placed PSU’s image above the lives and well-being of young boys. Child sexual abuse cases are incredibly difficult. Often the victims are afraid to come forward and plagued with guilt and emotional (if not physical) trauma. On top of that factor is the “conspiracy of silence” of powerful institutions trying to cover up these horrific crimes. Pennsylvania has example after example: Penn State/Jerry Sandusky, Philadelphia priest abuse cases, and now the Boy Scouts of America’s “immoral” files that document decades of abuse. How many more tragedies must come to light before Pennsylvania’s leaders put victims’ needs first? Obtaining justice for these children is further complicated by the statute of limitations. Child sex abuse cases have to be brought forward before the victim is 50 for criminal charges and before the victim turns 30 for civil charges. However, when many of these high-profile molestations and rapes took place, the statute of limitations was much shorter, meaning men and women finally ready to come forward today can’t do so. The 2003 Philadelphia grand jury report on the Catholic Church scandal identified 63 priests who sexually abused children. It is gruesome to read. But the report concludes, “Unfortunately, the law currently stands in the way of justice for the victims of childhood sexual abuse. “Although we have a wealth of evidence against many of the abusers, including their own admissions ... we cannot indict any priest who abused a child ... because the relevant statutes of limitation have expired.” Similarly, one of the worst incidents in the Boy Scout files occurred in Newport, Perry County, in 1976. “He ask [sic] some scouts to stay over at his house and we said yes. I knew what was going to happen but somehow I fell asleep. I woke up and he had my pants down and then he rolled me over on my stomach and pin [sic] me down and had sexual intercourse with me, but I was to [sic] scared to say anything and to [sic] scared to tell anybody,” details one handwritten letter of six accusing a Boy Scout leader of child sex abuse. It’s hard to read these letters and not feel sick, want to cry or punch a wall. These young Scouts from the 1970s are now around age 50. They were brave enough to come forward as kids, yet all that happened was the accused Scout leader resigned. There is no evidence of counseling or any help for the victims. And now it is too late for them to get justice. A bill sponsored by Rep. Ron Marsico, R-Lower Paxton Twp., would remove the statute of limitations entirely for criminal cases and make it up to age 50 for civil suits. This is the right move and long overdue — the Philadelphia grand jury recommended it years ago. But it’s not enough. That bill will do nothing to aid all the past victims. Pennsylvania should pass a one- or two-year “window” to allow victims to bring cases forward by suspending the statute of limitations. It’s been done in California and Delaware and is occurring in Hawaii. A window does bring many cases forward — several hundred in other states, and it has had negative financial ramifications, especially in some Catholic dioceses. But is it fair to dismiss these injustices against kids to protect institutions? The Insurance Federation of Pa. and Catholic Church are lobbying hard against the window, saying it won’t protect children. But look at Penn State. The university has made sweeping changes for the better after the Sandusky charges. The Sandusky case also brought sexual abuse to the nation’s attention. It enabled people to speak out about abuse, some for the first time. Most of all, the Sandusky case gave victims some peace, knowing their perpetrator is behind bars, knowing they spoke out, knowing they can try to move on and not hide and suffer in silence. In another Boy Scouts file from 1985 in York County, a Scout leader writes, “He [a boy] does not want a story to get out, in the press or by word of mouth, that he was involved in any homosexual activity, whether he was innocent or not.” That attitude is likely gone post-Sandusky. Let’s give victims the chance to come forward in Pennsylvania with a window. It’s the least we can do.
|
.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.