Catholic Church fights push to allow more abuse claims in NY

By David Klepper
San Antonio Express-News
April 23, 2015

http://www.expressnews.com/news/crime/article/Catholic-church-fights-push-to-allow-more-abuse-6219777.php

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The Roman Catholic Church is opposing efforts in New York to allow sex abuse accusers to file lawsuits after the statute of limitations has expired, warning of dire financial consequences if the state allows plaintiffs to sue decades after the purported abuse occurred.

Currently in New York, victims of child sex abuse have until five years after they turn 18 to file a lawsuit. The same statute of limitations applies to most child sex crimes.

A bill pending in the state Assembly would eliminate the statute of limitations on abuse cases going forward — and create a one-year window to allow anyone to file lawsuits no matter when the abuse occurred. Supporters gathered Wednesday in Albany to push for the bill.

A similar law in California passed in 2002 resulted in dioceses there paying $1.2 billion in legal settlements.

Such a law in New York would cause the church "catastrophic financial harm," according to a statement of opposition from The New York State Catholic Conference, which argues a one-year window would do nothing to stop new cases of abuse while "enriching trial lawyers" by allowing them to file suits relating to "stale lawsuits regarding long-ago charges."