Pa. Senate Panel Sets Hearing on Statute of Limitations for Crimes of Child Sex Abuse

Pennsylvania Catholic Conference
June 13, 2016

http://www.pacatholic.org/statement-on-judiciary-committee-hearing-for-hb-1947/

The Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a public hearing Monday morning on the constitutionality of House Bill 1947, which passed that chamber with an overwhelming majority.

The bill would abolish the criminal statute of limitations for all future crimes of child sexual abuse. It would also give future victims more time to file civil cases by raising the maximum age to do so from 30 to 50.

The bill was introduced after the attorney general's office released a report in March detailing the cover-up of sexual abuse by more than 50 priests and religious leaders in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese over several decades.

The committee has not released a list of witnesses to testify at the hearing, but it is clear the bill faces opposition from Catholic organizations around the state, including the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference. Their ire has mainly been drawn by an amendment to the bill from state Rep. Mark Rozzi that would make the change in civil statute retroactive, meaning people now between the ages of 30 and 50 could file suits over childhood abuse.

In an emailed statement, the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference called that measure "blatantly unfair." It said, due to state law, that it will be easier for people to sue private institutions, such as churches, than public ones.