Senate Votes to Nix Statute of Limitations on Child Sexual Abuse Cases

By Carley Mossbrook
The Tribune-Review
June 30, 2016

http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/10718878-74/bill-provision-senate

The state Senate unanimously passed a bill Thursday that would overhaul Pennsylvania's statute of limitations for child sexual abuse cases.

After weeks of debate and the removal of a key component of the bill, the Senate passed legislation that would remove the statute of limitations for criminal cases of child sexual abuse and extend the amount of time victims have to bring lawsuits against institutions.

Under current laws, criminal cases must be brought before the victim reaches age 50, and lawsuits against institutions must be filed before the victim turns 30. The bill would give victims until age 50 to bring a suit against institutions.

There is no age restriction to file a lawsuit against individuals who perpetrated the abuse.

The bill was originally introduced in the House, but some controversial changes were made earlier this week in the Senate Judiciary Committee that will volley it back to the House for concurrence.

An amendment, introduced by Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson County, removed a provision that would have allowed more time for some victims whose statutes of limitations for filing a lawsuit have expired. The provision was part of a bill approved by the House and pushed by Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-Berks County, who says he was raped by a priest as a teenager.

Scarnati's amendment passed 9-4, with those in the majority questioning the constitutionality of allowing a victim of sexual abuse to file a civil case against institutions after the statute of limitations expired.

“I am sorry we are not able to address the needs of survivors of past abuse,” said Sen. Rob Teplitz, D-Dauphin County. “There is a reasonable debate over whether that would be constitutional.”

The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference and the Insurance Federation of Pennsylvania, which represents for-profit insurers, had opposed the retroactivity provision.

It is unclear when the House will bring up the bill and whether House members will try to reintroduce the amended language. The House passed the original bill 180-15.

Sen. Scott Wagner, R-York County, attempted to reintroduce the provision during Thursday's session but failed to garner enough support.

Senate supporters of the retroactivity provision ultimately voted for the final bill, saying it is better to give more protections to current and future victims than none at all.

“There's a lot of other things in this bill that are very strong,” Sen. John Wozniak, D-Cambria County, said. “None of that should be overshadowed by the fact that we can't provide justice for everyone. But we can provide justice for a significant number of people.”

Lawmakers, including Rozzi, have pushed for reform of the statutes for years, but it took a statewide grand jury investigation into the Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese earlier this year to bring new legislation to fruition.

The investigation, led by state Attorney General Kathleen Kane's office, found some priests had abused children in the diocese for decades and some former church leaders covered it up. No charges have been filed because the statute of limitations had expired, Kane said then at a news conference.

The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference lobbied against the retroactivity provision stripped from the bill by Scarnati's amendment, saying it could bankrupt parishes and schools for decade-old crimes.

Gov. Tom Wolf supported the House-passed version that included the retroactivity provision, Wolf's spokesman Jeff Sheridan said in an email following the Senate vote.

Carley Mossbrook is an intern with the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents Association.