Senate panel reviews time limits on filing criminal, civil complaints over child sex abuse

By Liam Migdail-Smith
Reading Eagle
June 13, 2016

http://www.readingeagle.com/news/article/senate-panel-reviews-time-limits-on-filing-criminal-civil-complaints-over-child-sex-abuse

The GOP leadership in the Senate that Democratic Gov.-elect Tom Wolf will work with has become more conservative, analysts agree. But it remains to be seen what effect that will have on decisions at the state Capitol building in Harrisburg.

The battle over legislation to give child sex-abuse victims more time to pursue claims in court is reaching a boiling point.

A key Senate committee is scheduled to review the measure today.Child abuse survivors and their advocates have fought for years to extend time limits for criminal charges and lawsuits against abusers and those who shield them. The legislation has gained traction in Harrisburg for the first time in a decade, passing the state House with overwhelming bipartisan support in April.But state Rep. Mark Rozzi, a Muhlenberg Township Democrat, said Friday that he fears the Senate will block or water down the measure amid fierce opposition and intense lobbying from the Catholic Church.Rozzi, who was sexually abused by a priest when he was a child, has led the effort to extend the statutes of limitation.After the measure cleared the state House, Catholic Church leaders launched a full-court press aimed at defeating the bill.The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference has increased its lobbying efforts and enlisted the help of regional church leaders to take its message to the pews. They've called the bill an attack on the church that targets Catholics over what's been a widespread problem."The Catholic Church has a sincere commitment to the emotional and spiritual well-being of individuals who have been impacted by the crime of childhood sexual abuse, no matter how long ago the crime was committed," Amy B. Hill, conference spokeswoman, said in an email. "But bankrupting the ministries of today's Catholics, like their parishes, schools, and charities, is not justice."Supporters of the bill counter that they want to bring accountability to all institutions. The side trying to make the fight about the church, they said, is the church."They're the only ones opposed to it," Rozzi said. "They're the only ones spending millions of dollars to defeat the legislation."They don't get it. Their deniability and their refusal to accept responsibility is unbelievable. There's no other group or institution that's doing this right now."And if Catholic leaders question why they're a major focus in discussions of abuse, supporters of the plan said, they need only look to recent scandals."Sexual abuse of children is not a Catholic issue," said Sister Maureen Paul Turlish, a founding member of Catholic Whistleblowers, a group of nuns and priests who have criticized the church hierarchy's handling of abuse."The (Catholic) issue is the cover-up," the sister said. "It's the abuse of power in the Catholic Church."

Similar debates are unfolding in other states - including New York and New Jersey - in the midst of a renewed focus on child sexual abuse.

"Spotlight," a film about the 2002 Boston Globe series that cast national scrutiny on concealment of abuse by church leaders, took top honors at the Academy Awards. In Pennsylvania, a state grand jury report uncovered rampant abuse - and extensive efforts to cover up the abuse - in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese.The bill under consideration here would eliminate the time limit for criminal charges and give victims until age 50 to file lawsuits. Now, the limit is age 50 for criminal charges and age 30 for lawsuits.The civil changes would be retroactive, allowing survivors up to age 50 to file lawsuits, regardless of when the abuse occurred. Extending criminal limits retroactively has been deemed unconstitutional and is not proposed.Victim advocates say the broader limits are needed because most people abused as children aren't ready to come forward until years later for many reasons, including shame, fear and being manipulated by their abusers.They argue that survivors must be able to take legal action when they're ready and recoup the expenses they often incur over years of therapy and treatment."It gives the opportunity for victims to try to shift the cost of their victimization back onto the person that abused them or the institutions that failed to protect them against the people who caused the abuse," said Kristen Houser, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape.

Civil cases are survivors' only avenue to justice after the criminal limit passes, said Kenneth Millman, a Spring Township attorney who represents many local abuse victims. And for many survivors, he said, confronting the abuse in court is part of healing.

"They just want their day in court; they just want the opportunity to tell their story," Millman said. "If they can't hold someone accountable for what they went through, then they're never going to be able to obtain any closure."Lawsuits also serve a public safety role, Houser said, by enabling victims to publicly name abusers who may still have access to kids and encouraging other victims to come forward.Catholic leaders support eliminating the criminal limits but oppose the civil changes, especially the retroactive provision, which they say would sap resources from other church functions."It would force parishes, dioceses, schools, and charities to defend cases that are 20, 30, or 40 years old, long after the perpetrator and possible witnesses have died or clear evidence is gone," the conference said in a statement on its website.Rozzi argued that retroactive changes are essential to bringing overdue justice to victims whose cases have been blocked by a setup that's stacked against them."The church has been given a free pass," he said. "They've been given a pass by the police, by the courts, by everybody. Tell me one time the victims have gotten a pass."And if the time limits are extended, Houser said, the burden will still be on plaintiffs to prove their cases."Memories do exist," she said. "Corroborating evidence does exist."

The bill would make it easier for victims to sue public institutions in the future by removing lawsuit protections for state and local governments. But supporters say that change can't be applied to the retroactive suits without running afoul of the state constitution.

Church leaders have made that disparity a central theme of their argument, saying the plan holds private institutions to a different standard. Hill called the retroactive provision "blatantly unfair.""It discriminates against survivors who suffered sexual abuse in public institutions and prevents them from seeking recourse," she said. "It allows lawsuits to be filed against private institutions for long past actions, but continues to protect public ones, including schools and juvenile facilities."Supporters of the bill call that argument a red herring and said it's one church leaders have repeatedly turned to when fighting similar changes in other states."What's obvious is that they're fishing to get this killed," said Marci A. Hamilton, a Bucks County attorney and national advocate for overhauling statutes of limitation.Abuse is a major problem in public institutions, and they should be held accountable, she said, which is the reason for lifting their immunity moving forward.But there isn't an apples-to-apples comparison between the church and public schools, she added. There's already oversight of public institutions through right-to-know and sunshine laws, she said. Public institutions are governed by elected boards that can be removed.And she said it's harder for public institutions to conceal systematic abuse from the government because they're part of it."There's a lot more of a safety net with a public school," Hamilton said.

Supporters of the bill say bringing similar oversight to private institutions is a major reason behind their push. They argue that lawsuits allow institutional records to be subpoenaed, shedding light on how reports of abuse are handled and discouraging cover-ups.

As Turlish of the whistleblowers group sees it, scandals like those uncovered in the church make it clear that institutions cannot be trusted to police themselves. But she contended, that's the reason they're pushing back."I don't think it's primarily about the money," said Turlish, who lives in Delaware but grew up in South Philadelphia and taught for years in Philadelphia-area Catholic schools. "It's about the power and control."Hill said the church has made changes to enforce a safe environment and ramp up support services for victims and their families, spending $16.6 million to date."No institution is more acutely aware of the harm, pain and anger caused by child sexual abuse than the Roman Catholic Church," she said. "The church has repeatedly acknowledged its mistakes and its role in the ongoing suffering experienced by survivors and their loved ones."Turlish said that falls short. As she sees it, church leaders should back up that sentiment by supporting changes that allow the faithful to hold them to what they say."This is my church," she said. "I don't want to hear: 'We're no worse than anybody else.' We're the Catholic Church. We should be leading the parade. We're not even bringing up the rear."