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	No Limits to Justice Boston Globe March 15, 2006 http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/ articles/2006/03/15/no_limits_to_justice/ THE SEXUAL ABUSE scandal has faded from the headlines, but the arrest of a Maynard teacher is a reminder that abuse is hard to eradicate, and difficult for victims to acknowledge. The Massachusetts Legislature needs to make these cases easier to prosecute by lifting the statute of limitations for the crime of sexually abusing children. Under current law, suspects cannot be prosecuted 15 years after the accuser reaches age 16. Using that standard, the Rev. John Geoghan was not prosecuted for any abuse in the 1970s and 1980s. He was finally put in prison for fondling a boy in the early 1990s. The Rev. Paul Shanley would not have been liable for his crimes at St. Jean's parish in Newton in the 1980s. He was prosecuted only because he had left the state in 1992. The statute of limitations is suspended in such cases. Martha Coakley, the Middlesex district attorney, originally favored keeping the statute. She has changed her mind in light of her experience in prosecuting these and other cases since the abuse scandal involving the Archdiocese of Boston broke open four years ago. "It takes a long time for the victims to come forward," Coakley said in a telephone interview, "sometimes 30 or 40 years." Defense lawyers oppose the bill on the grounds that a fair trial becomes impossible after many decades have passed. Coakley, however, is confident that district attorneys will seek indictments only when there is a reasonable prospect of conviction. Her view is shared by Attorney General Thomas Reilly. Bills to lift the statute were heard by the Legislature's Judiciary Committee yesterday. One bill would lift the statute only in the most serious cases, those involving rape, but it is best to end it in regard to all sexual crimes involving young people, as a deterrent to abuse of any kind. Some proponents of an end to the statute also want to lift the $20,000 cap on liability for nonprofit institutions in sexual abuse cases. Bills on this topic also came before the Judiciary Committee. This raises complex issues about the desirability of shielding charitable institutions from large penalties in any kind of lawsuit. The issue needs more examination.
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