Voice of Faithful Joins Victim in Effort to Revamp Statute of Limitations
By Beth Miller
The News Journal [Delaware]
January 19, 2006
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps
/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060119/NEWS/60119001/-1/NEWS01
BETHANY BEACH — Navy officer Kenneth J. Whitwell's effort to change Delaware's statute of limitations law regarding child sexual abuse got a boost Wednesday night from a group he didn't even know existed two months ago.
Whitwell in November filed a federal lawsuit, alleging that he had been sexually abused by a priest when he was a student at Archmere Academy. And after his news conference that month, the 1986 graduate of Archmere who now lives in Quantico, Va., was worried how people would react.
He had never heard of the Voice of the Faithful - a national group formed in 2002 to support those who had been sexually abused by priests - until after that news conference. He called John and Skip Sullivan of the Coastal Delmarva chapter, and Wednesday night he stood before about 40 Catholics at the chapter's January meeting. He thanked members and asked the group for its support in changing Delaware's statute of limitations for such crimes. Though the abuse shook his faith, he now sees that effort as a mission.
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| Navy officer Kenneth Whitwell filed a federal lawsuit in November alleging that he had been abused by a priest while a student at Archmere Academy |
"I believe I have been called," he said. "I plan on fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves, through no fault of their own."
By the time Whitwell finished his presentation, the group voted to support a change in Delaware's statute of limitations law.
Whitwell has had therapy since the abuse, which he said started when he was 14 and occurred during skiing trips to Vermont with the priest. He has a legal team pursuing his case.
Other victims do not have such opportunities, he said, because of Delaware's statute of limitations, which gives victims two years from the time they are molested to file a lawsuit. Whitwell would have had to file suit by age 16 under that law. Instead, his attorney, Thomas Neuberger, filed it in federal court to leverage the Vermont statute of limitations, which is not triggered until a person realizes that the injury or condition he or she has suffered was a result of the abuse.
Whitwell learned the connection between the abuse he suffered and the marital problems he and his wife, Amy, were having during counseling in 2004.
Experts say it can take decades for victims of sexual abuse to report the abuse, and many never do.
For that reason, and because of patterns of cover-ups in many dioceses, statutes of limitations have been under review nationally since the abuse scandal emerged in 2002. Whitwell wants the statute of limitations extended to six years from the date the victim links the injury to the abuse. He also wants a one-year amnesty period that would allow other victims to come forward even if their statute of limitations has expired.
Contact Beth Miller at 324-2784 or bmiller@delawareonline.com
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