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Abusive Priests Get Legal Break House Won't Allow Victims' Lawsuits to Go Back 35 Years By Catherine Candisky and Jim Siegel The Columbus Dispatch March 29, 2006 http://www.columbusdispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/03/29/20060329-A1-00.html Victims of sex abuse by priests were livid yesterday after majority Republicans in the Ohio House closed a oneyear window that would have allowed the victims to sue for abuse that occurred up to 35 years ago. Packing a Statehouse hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, the victims accused GOP leaders of caving to pressure from the Roman Catholic Church, which successfully lobbied for an Internet registry for sexually abusive priests. "The influence of the Catholic Conference is so much greater than ours; that's what it comes down to," said Barbara Blaine, president of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. She and other victims said Speaker Jon A. Husted, R-Kettering, betrayed them by going back on his promise to get tough on sex offenders. As GOP leaders met behind closed doors before the committee vote, Blaine said, "If the speaker wants to sell out kids, he needs to do it in the light. No more back-room deals." Moments later, Husted emerged before disappearing down a hallway, avoiding victims who were pleading their case to a swarm of reporters. "There he goes," a man yelled, prompting some to give chase. Husted eluded them. The anger about Senate Bill 17 bubbled over on a day when the Senateapproved bills increasing penalties for a variety of sex offenses involving young victims, and as a Franklin County judge warned that raising penalties too much for low-level offenses would do more harm than good. The House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to send a new version of Senate Bill 17, the so-called priest sex-abuse bill, to the House floor for a vote today. The Senate last year unanimously passed the bill, which included a one-year window — or look-back provision — for victims to file civil lawsuits against abusers for sex offenses from up to 35 years ago. Supporters said the provision would bring overdue justice to victims and expose priests who were never charged and might have access to children. They said it also would hold accountable church leaders who covered up the abuse. The Catholic Conference of Ohio argued that allowing claims long past Ohio's statute of limitations would be uncon- stitutional and unfair. Husted said he did not have support among GOP members to pass the look-back provision. Committee Chairman John R. Willamowski, R-Lima, said Republicans are divided over the issue and, although he personally supports it, he had to choose between no bill or a substitute one without the one-year window. "You've got to do what gets the bill to the floor," he said after the panel's 7-3 vote. "This will be fought on the floor." Republican committee members tabled Democratic amendments to return the look-back provision and to extend the time that victims can file a civil lawsuit. Victims had 20 years from the time of the offense under the Senate version. The new House version cut it to 12. Democrats said they will try again to amend the bill on the House floor today. The House version would create a sex-offenders registry on the Internet. Victims could seek a court determination that they had been sexually abused. If a judge agrees, the offender's name would be placed on the registry and he or she would be required to report an address and employer to the sheriff. Victims could collect legal fees but not damages, raising concern about the willingness of lawyers to take such cases. Tim Luckhaupt, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Ohio, said the organization proposed the registry "in order to protect children who were abused by priests." The bill also would increase the penalty to a first-degree misdemeanor for clerics who fail to report child abuse by someone employed by the church. Currently, it is a fourthdegree misdemeanor. In a news release, Husted said "the goal of this legislation is not litigation, it's protecting children," contending that it will prevent sex abuse "to Ohio's children in the future." The bill's sponsor, Sen. Robert F. Spada, a North Royalton Republican, said he supports a registry but that the bill should include a look-back provision. Senate Democrats were nearly successful in adding the look-back to a different sexoffender bill last night, thwarted only when two Republicans changed their votes at the urging of Senate leaders. Also yesterday, Franklin County Judge Daniel T. Hogan, the administrative judge of the 17-member bench, told House and Senate committees that removing sentencing discretion for lowerlevel sex offenses "will discourage guilty pleas and actually benefit criminal defendants." "The vast, vast majority of child sex-assault cases are not supported by strong evidence," Hogan said, adding that if more offenders opt for trial, it will result in fewer convictions. The Senate responded by dropping its initial proposal of 15 years to life for gross sexual imposition involving a victim younger than 13, opting to keep the same one- to five-year penalty in current law. The Senate-passed bill also adds a presumption that prison time will be imposed — essentially telling the judge there better be a good reason for not sending an offender to prison. The Senate also approved other punishments for sex crimes involving victims younger than 13: ccandisky@dispatch.com jsiegel@dispatch.com |
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