PITTSBURGH (PA)
The Incline
September 11, 2018
Victims would have a choice, one advocate said.
By MJ Slaby
When people first come to the Center for Victims in the South Side to seek counseling or therapy, they usually aren’t there because of the legal system, Clinical Director Cindy Snyder said. They’re there because they’re struggling with what happened to them.
For people who were sexually abused by priests as children, that means physical, emotional and spiritual violations of trust, she said.
“Child victims have no idea that these [statutes of limitations] are even out there. It’s not until adulthood that they say, ‘I should report this,’” said Kristen Houser, chief public affairs officer for Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape. Victims of child sexual abuse in Pennsylvania can file criminal charges against their abuser until they are 50 years old, or they have until they are 30 to pursue a civil case.
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