WALTHAM (MA)
BishopAccountability.org
As of April 19, 2013, the Minnesota legislature appears close to passing the Child Victims Act (HF 681 [see also another web posting of HF 681] / SF 534). It would eliminate prospectively the civil statute of limitations for minors and provide a three-year window in which previously barred cases could be brought.
If passed into law, it will make Minnesota’s justice system accessible to adults who were sexually assaulted as children and result in the identification of sexual predators — including some who may be abusing children still.
Bills like the Child Victims Act give society another benefit that is seldom mentioned: they expose institutional wrong-doing. In Delaware, a similar law resulted ultimately in the release by the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington of 11,000 pages of formerly secret abuse files. In California, the San Diego diocese released 10,000 pages and the Los Angeles archdiocese, 12,000 pages – both disclosures the result of a law that freed victims of time restrictions. When victims have civil recourse, institutions are forced to account for their actions.
It is troubling that in Minnesota, some of those lobbying against the Child Victims Act have been involved in the very bureaucracy whose actions in abuse cases would be revealed if the bill passes. The bill faces active opposition from the Minnesota Religious Council. Three Council members are from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, including two – Rev. Kevin McDonough and former archdiocesan attorney Andrew Eisenzimmer – who worked for decades in the archdiocese to manage abuse cases. Their involvement in the Minnesota Religious Council effectively continues that effort.
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