Former DA Jeanine Pirro "Disappointed" in Legislators for Protecting Pedophiles: "Shame on Them"
By Michael O’keeffe
A high-profile former prosecutor is railing against state lawmakers for protecting pedophiles with their inaction on the statute of limitations law. Former Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro faced the harsh reality of the free-pass statute when she went after pedophile priests in 2002. The grand jury she empaneled then made no criminal charges — but it urged the state Legislature to eliminate the paralyzing statute of limitations on child sex abuse cases. Fourteen years later, Pirro said, lawmakers are still lollygagging. “I am disappointed with the thought that legislators are more concerned about lobbyists for certain organizations and getting reelected than justice for sexual abuse victims,” a furious Pirro said in an exclusive interview with the Daily News on Wednesday. “Shame on you. Shame on you.” Pirro, now a Fox News legal analyst, then turned her frustration toward the Catholic Church itself.
“They are supposed to take care of the most innocent among us, but instead they delivered these lambs to their slaughter,” she said. “Shame on them.” The grand jury’s 13-page report also urged lawmakers to require clergy members and employees of religious institutions to immediately report any sexual abuse allegations to authorities. “I don’t care if you own half of New York City,” said Pirro, referring to the church’s real estate holdings. “I don’t care if you are the one giving me Eucharist on Sunday. You are not above the law.” Pirro’s grand jury called for the Legislature to eliminate the statute of limitations on child sex abuse cases, which bars victims from pursuing criminal charges or civil litigation after their 23rd birthday. The grand jury, which met for two months, reviewed thousands of pages of documents and heard testimony from 21 witnesses — including eight sexual abuse victims — did not hand down indictments, name pedophile priests or identify parishes where abuse took place due to the constraints of the law.
It concluded clergy members engaged in coverups that protected sexual predators and the church from justice. “The grand jury infers that this was an orchestrated effort to protect abusing clergy members from investigation, arrest and prosecution from civil authorities,” the report said. “Likewise, the grand jury infers that this effort also protected the religious institution from adverse publicity that might have affected its economic welfare.” The report also noted the multifaceted damage victims suffered. “The trauma experienced by the victims heard in this proceeding is especially acute, since victims viewed the offender as both a family friend and a religious authority, indeed God’s representative,” the grand jury concluded. Pirro said she was motivated to empanel the grand jury because sexual abuse survivors had told her that they were unable to file reports long after the statute of limitations had passed.
“I’m all about a level playing field for crime victims, especially when the victim is a child,” she said. Pirro describes herself as a devout Catholic, but she has no use for church officials who chose to move predator priests to a new parish rather than report them to cops or prosecutors. “I don’t care who you are, the law is the law, and don’t tell me canon law will handle it. The church was saying it could handle it, and instead it was moving the predators to a new crop of prey,” she said. Assemblywoman Margaret Markey (D-Queens) has introduced legislation — the Child Victims Act — that would eliminate the criminal and civil statutes of limitations on sexual abuse cases. It would also open a one-year window for sex abuse survivors penalized by the current law to file lawsuits against predators and the institutions that protect them. The bill has faced tremendous opposition from the Catholic Church and Albany Republicans. As The News reported last month, disgraced former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver stopped pushing for the bill after the state Catholic Conference hired a former longtime aide as a lobbyist. Silver, convicted on federal corruption charges late last year, was sentenced to 12 years in prison last week. “Shame on Shelly Silver,” Pirro said. “Karma is a ... well, let’s just say karma is a bad lady.”
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