PENNSYLVANIA
York Daily Record
Brandie Kessler, bkessler@ydr.com March 5, 2016
When a grand jury last week issued a report alleging child sexual abuse over four decades by more than 50 priests in the Altoona-Johnstown diocese, the grand jury said Pennsylvania’s statutes of limitations for child sex crimes needs to change.
Although the abuse alleged in the grand jury report included rape of a child and other alleged acts by priests, a news release from the attorney general’s office said none of the criminal acts can be prosecuted, in part because the statute of limitations has passed.
In Pennsylvania, the statute of limitations for criminal and civil charges vary. For criminal charges, a victim of child sexual abuse who turned 18 years old after Aug. 27, 2002, has until their 50th birthday to report the abuse. The statute of limitations for anyone who had their 18th birthday on or before Aug. 27, 2002, has already expired, since the law allows them to report only until their 30th birthday.
For civil charges, child victims have only until their 30th birthday to file, regardless of when the abuse occurred.
Advocates say that’s a problem for a number of reasons.
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