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	House Kills Key Provision in Clergy Sex Abuse Bill By Laure Quinlivan WCPO [Ohio] March 28, 2006 http://www.wcpo.com/news/2006/local/03/28/iteam_update.html 9News Anchor: Victims of child sexual abuse are scrambling Tuesday night to resurrect a key provision in a bill Ohio House members are expected to vote on Wednesday. On Tuesday Republicans killed the bill's one-year window to allow victims to file civil suits against their abusers. 9News' I-Team reporter Laure Quinlivan was in Columbus and has the latest. Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, on set: Victims say the bishops won on Tuesday. This bill -- Senate Bill 17 -- with the one-year window, sailed through the State Senate last year. Senators passed it unanimously, but after that Ohio bishops lobbied hard and won over the Catholic Speaker of the House, John Husted, (R), of Kettering. On Tuesday Husted made sure fellow Republicans did what he wanted. Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, on tape: Victims say they knew it was bad when lawmakers wouldn't look them in the eye, then retreated behind closed doors to consult with church allies like the house speaker and Representative Bill Seitz, of Cincinnati. Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, on camera: "Hey, Mr. Seitz, what's going on in there?" Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, on tape: The victims stood right outside. Abuse victim, on camera: "No more secret deals, no more behind closed doors selling kids out." Barbara Blaine, SNAP president, on camera: "They've still been drafting it since midnight last night, it's put together at the last minute." Rep. Steve Driehaus, (D) Cincinnati, on camera: "I think it violates certainly what people expect of government, the idea that all the decisions are made out in the open." Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, on tape: The committee raised a substitute bill that removes the one-year window to file civil suits, the provision that bishops claimed would bankrupt the church. Tim Luckhaupt, Catholic Conference (Lobbyist), on camera: "People who are members of the church today will be responsible then for paying for something that took place many years ago." Christy Miller, SNAP Co-founder, on camera: "It doesn't come out of parishioners pockets. They have insurance for this. That's what happened in the rest of the country, they have insurance to cover this. They just don't want to." Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, on tape: The substitute bill allows declaratory judgements by a court. Abusers would then have to register as sex offenders on an Internet registry maintained by the Ohio Attorney General. Rep. Lou Blessing, (R) Cincinnati, on camera: "Every time they testified they said it's not about the money, 'We want to out the people who've abused in the past.' And we struggled whether to do that with that 35-year retroactive statute, which we didn't like, that's why we came up with the civil registry." Christy Miller, SNAP Co-founder, on camera: "What deterrent is there for the church to never do this again? They're not penalized in any form or fashion." Rep. Sandra Harwood, (D) Niles, on camera: "We'll see what happens on the floor tomorrow when we have all 99 members present." Laure Quinlivan, I-Team reporter, on set: Victims are lobbying Republicans right now, hoping that on Wednesday House members pass a version of the bill that includes the look back window. Victims say without it the church won't change.
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