BishopAccountability.org
	Victims Groups Want to End Legal Limitations on Sex Crimes By Erik Arvidson Lowell Sun March 15, 2006 http://www.lowellsun.com/front/ci_3604931 BOSTON -- Describing child sexual abuse as "the perfect crime," advocates for victims made another push yesterday for legislation that would lift the statute of limitations for many sexual offenses. "Child sexual abuse is a uniquely insidious and damaging crime," Jetta Bernier, executive director of Massachusetts Citizens for Children, said at a Statehouse press conference. "It's the only crime wherein the victim is manipulated into believing that they themselves are responsible for their own victimization." John Mackey, the retired police chief from Tewksbury, whose daughter was allegedly sexually abused by a Catholic priest, said that sexual abuse by clergy is only "the tip of the iceberg." "The vast majority of sexual abuse is not clergy related. This devastating epidemic of deviant behavior takes on many faces including, but not limited to, family members, friends, teachers, coaches, police officers and strangers," Mackey said. Mackey says his daughter, Heather Mackey Godin, was a victim of the former priest, Robert Kelley, when he was assigned to St. Cecilia's parish in Leominster. Kelley is now incarcerated in a state prison after pleading guilty to raping two girls when he was associate pastor at St. Cecilia's. Children's advocates have lobbied in favor of the bill for years, but it has stalled over concerns that it could result in decades-old abuse cases being tried in court with only circumstantial evidence to base them on. Sen. Robert Creedon, D-Brockton, the Senate chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said in an interview that there seemed to be clear support in the Legislature for passing a bill this legislative session. "It's becoming abundantly clear that this is a unique circumstance of children being abused," Creedon said. "We're finding out that the child will compartmentalize the memory until some event later in life jars them into recognizing what happened to them." However, lawmakers are concerned about the constitutionality of enacting such a bill. The U.S. Supreme Court is considering a California case, Stogner v. California, brought by a man who was prosecuted in 1998 for molesting his two sons as much as 40 years earlier. The California legislature passed a law in 1994 that expanded the statute of limitations for certain offenses, such as the rape and molestation of children by adults. There would be no time limit for such a prosecution, as long as it began within one year of the victim reporting it to a law enforcement agency. The plaintiff, Mario Stogner, argued that his constitutional due process rights were violated because he was charged retroactively for the crime. The bill, which may face an uphill battle in the Legislature, would eliminate the statute of limitations on both criminal and civil cases involving child sexual abuse. The advocates included a group of people holding photos of children who were victims of sexual abuse, including sons, daughters, or themselves. Depending on the nature of the alleged crime, current state law provides that a criminal prosecution or civil lawsuit must be commenced within six years, 10 years or 15 years of the abuse. There is also a provision that starts the time running at the alleged victim's 16th birthday. This means that the prosecution must start by the time the victim turns 22, 26, or 31 years old.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.