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	State Must Close Loopholes That Let Pedophiles Hide The Morning Call [Pennsylvania] October 1, 2006 http://www.mcall.com/news/opinion/anotherview/all-sorensen10-1 oct01,0,3686438.story?coll=all-newsopinionanotherview-hed Bishop Edward Cullen of the Allentown Catholic Diocese conceded before a grand jury in Philadelphia that "it would be good for society" if sexual crimes against children had no statute of limitations. He was right. Fortunately, there is a proposal before the Pennsylvania Legislature that would do just that. It is time lawmakers in Harrisburg enacted this and other reforms designed to protect the most vulnerable members of society from both sexual predators and from any institutions that would hide behind statutes of limitations to cover up and enable child abuse. On Sept. 21, it was one year that the Philadelphia grand jury issued its report on the sexual abuse of children by clergy in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The jurors exposed a pattern that has been found in every diocese nationwide that has been investigated — decades of sexual crimes committed by priests, crimes that bishops and their aides hid, and in important ways, facilitated. It was also one year ago that the same grand jury revealed gaping loopholes in Pennsylvania laws intended to protect children. The jurors found that church leaders had exploited these loopholes to shield predatory priests from prosecution and themselves from liability. Bishop Cullen, before he came to Allentown, was second-in-command in Philadelphia. The grand jury report documents his complicity in decisions that kept numerous sexually abusive priests in ministry. An aide of his in Philadelphia testified that Cullen once reprimanded him for telling a victim who had been raped as an 11-year-old that he believed her accusations against the priest. This priest was well known to Cullen, with a long history of abuse allegations against him. The report also shows Cullen intimately involved in efforts to quickly transfer another priest back to Camden, N.J., when a prior victim's lawsuit threatened to expose the priest. The Philadelphia Archdiocese had agreed to harbor the admitted sexual predator as a favor to the bishop in Camden. A year after the grand jury released its report, it is reasonable to ask what has been done to reform the state laws that allowed all the molestation and rape of children to go undetected, undeterred and unpunished. The grand jury recommended simple amendments to statutes that would close the loopholes. Lawmakers have yet to pass any of these amendments. Why are legal reforms necessary? The grand jury found that when church officials were faced with the choice of defending their institution's reputation and assets or protecting parish children from known predators, they chose to hand over their lambs to the wolves. And no Pennsylvania law deterred them from making that choice. No statute deterred them from refusing ever to report the abuse of children to authorities, from transferring known predators to unsuspecting parishes, from allowing priests to continue to exploit their trusted position to procure new victims. Anthony Bevilacqua, the former cardinal of Philadelphia and Cullen's supervisor, knew of children who were molested by priests, but testified to the grand jury that he never reported such cases because Pennsylvania's "reporting law" did not require him to do so. Lawyers had advised him that a report was mandated only if the abused child physically appeared before him. But, he usually learned of the crimes second-hand from his aides. A different loophole, in a law ostensibly punishing those who endanger the welfare of children, apparently allowed church supervisors to place known serial child molesters in charge of parish youth without fear of criminal sanction when the priests predictably re-offended. And so, according to the grand jury, the Archdiocese leaders did just that: They helped sexual predators to escape prosecution and find more victims by covering up their offenses until the statute of limitations on their crimes expired. Despite a finding that more than 63 priests raped or molested hundreds of children — and despite overwhelming evidence of complicity on the part of two Philadelphia cardinals and their aides in covering up and enabling these sexual horrors — only one priest was prosecuted as a result of the investigation — a travesty of justice. Keep in mind that sexual abuse of children in all likelihood is not limited to the one diocese in Pennsylvania that has been subject to a grand jury investigation. Nor is it limited to the Catholic Church. Have Allentown parishioners been informed about priests accused of child molestation in their diocese? Have any other institutions in the Lehigh Valley and across Pennsylvania abused the trust of families and given known predators access to children in their care? Such questions point to the importance of action in Harrisburg. The legislators should not leave in place state laws that have allowed rampant child abuse to occur. They should promptly enact the Philadelphia grand jury recommendations to: Require those charged with caring for children to report suspected abuse, regardless of whether the child reports the abuse in person or not. Make the law against endangering the welfare of children explicitly apply to supervisors who place children in the care of those known to be dangerous to children. Abolish the statute of limitations for sex crimes committed against children so that perpetrators can no longer escape punishment by choosing as victims those too vulnerable to report their abuse in time. Require organizations to perform background checks on those entrusted to work with children, thus preventing institutions from intentionally not "knowing" of an employee's dangerous propensities. Allow a one-year window in which victims who have been denied justice because of the inadequacy of Pennsylvania's laws can seek civil redress, even though their cases may fall outside the statute of limitations. Although the grand jury exposed a particularly egregious case of an institution that exploited loopholes in the laws to avoid liability and shield pedophiles in its employ, the proposed reforms would prevent child abuse much more broadly. The legislation would deter responsible adults — not just clergy, but also medical professionals, school staff, day care workers, and others — from leaving children in the care of known predators. In combination, the recommendations regarding criminal statutes will go a long way toward protecting Pennsylvania's children in the future. What criminal-law reforms cannot do is identify or hold accountable past abusers and enablers who have successfully concealed their offenses until after the statute of limitations has run. The one-time, one-year window for civil suits addresses this remaining gap. Without this legislation, past victims, inadequately protected by Pennsylvania laws, will be without redress, and those who harmed them will be rewarded for choosing children as victims and for covering up their crimes. Child rapists, even those who have confessed their offenses to supervisors, could forever remain anonymous and work as teachers, counselors or coaches. In the Allentown diocese, Bishop Cullen has refused to release the names of priests who have been removed from ministry as a result of substantiated allegations of child sexual abuse. Where are these men now? Here, as in other Pennsylvania dioceses where no grand jury probes have occurred, civil lawsuits are often the only way parishioners will learn the names of abusive priests. And if any other organizations in the state have harbored pedophiles for decades, only a window to allow civil suits will expose them. A year is long enough. Legal reforms aimed at stopping predators and their enablers should be enacted now — for the sake of the children of Pennsylvania. Mariana Sorensen is a former Philadelphia prosecutor who was the lead author on last year's grand jury report. "The grand jury recommended simple amendments to statutes that would close the loopholes. Lawmakers have yet to pass any of these amendments."
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