MASSACHUSETTS
WWLP
Andy Metzger
BOSTON (STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE) – A man who said he was sexually abused by a now-deceased priest, and a former priest, who said he was fired for speaking out about sex abuse in the church asked lawmakers Tuesday to eliminate the civil statute of limitations for child abuse allegations against the dead so that victims can seek damages from their estates.
Bassam Haddad, who said he is 43 and married with two boys, told members of the Judiciary Committee he was abused as a teenager by a priest at St. Joseph’s in Lawrence who was then transferred to Lebanon, where he died in recent years.
“We can’t do anything now,” Haddad told the committee. He said, “We’re trying to get this law moved so we can go after their estate.”
Robert Hoatson, a former priest and co-founder of Road to Recovery for survivors of sexual abuse, joined Haddad, and said the church had fired him after he testified about sexual abuse to New York lawmakers. Hoatson, who said he worked at Catholic Memorial High School and raised alarms about Monsignor Fred Ryan around 1982, said he was at the hearing to support Haddad.
Hoatson said he was fired from a position directing schools in Newark, N.J. in 2003 after testifying before lawmakers in New York.
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