CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Adult victims of abuse left out of bill

Allied News - 4/9/2017

HARRISBURG ? Legislation to change the statute of limitations for child sex crimes is going to the floor of the House without a provision that would allow victims of old crimes to sue the Catholic church and other institutions that allegedly covered up for predators.

The House judiciary committee approved a bill that passed the Senate unanimously, making a number of changes but without discussing a proposal long sought by victims of child sex abuse to allow them to sue now even if the statute of limitations in their cases has expired.

State Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-Berks County, who has led the campaign to get the law changed to allow victims of old sex child crimes to sue, said he plans to amend the bill on the floor of the House.

While victims have been assured that the measure will get voted upon when the legislation gets to the House floor, Shaun Dougherty, a Johnstown native who has disclosed he was molested by a priest, said he was disappointed by the House panel's vote.

Dougherty said he has faith that House Republican leaders support the effort to get the window opened for lawsuits in old child sex cases added to the bill.

Speaking to reporters after the committee meeting, Rozzi said that because the proposal now only helps victims moving forward, if passed it would't make a difference for decades.

"Past victims of abuse were left out of this bill," he said.

If the law is changed to allow lawsuits for old crimes, "we can expose perpetrators today," he said.

The controversial provision to allow lawsuits for old crimes has been opposed by the Catholic Church and the insurance industry. Senate Republican leaders have blocked Rozzi's efforts to open a window allowing adult victims of child sex abuse to sue for old crimes, arguing that the measure is unconstitutional.

Rozzi said the current momentum to try to get the law changed was prompted by outrage over revelations that the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese covered up priest abuse for decades.

Rozzi said that based on what he's heard from witnesses who've testified before them, new grand jury investigations examining other dioceses in the state are underway. The findings in those cases will be so bad that lawmakers unmoved by what happened in Altoona-Johnstown may feel compelled to act, he said.

Joe Grace, a spokesman for Attorney General Josh Shapiro, said Shapiro's office can't speak about grand jury investigations, or even confirm or deny that they are taking place.

Those fighting to get the law changed are eagerly awaiting the findings of that grand jury, Dougherty said.

"There are rumblings that what was happening in some of the other dioceses will make what happened in Altoona-Johnstown look G-rated," he said.

Dougherty said the grand jury is expected to have until the summer to finish its work, unless they request an extension.

Under current law, victims have until the age of 30 to sue and they must report alleged sex abuse before the age of 50 to prompt criminal prosecutions.

The Senate bill would increase the age limit for civil lawsuits to 50 and remove the limit entirely for criminal prosecutions. The Senate bill would also make it easier for victims to sue public institutions for negligence when officials cover up for predators. The House committee amended the bill to remove a cap on liability for negligence involving child sex abuse at public institutions.

That move prompted criticism from state Rep. Rick Saccone, R-Allegheny County. Lifting the caps would make public institutions a target for lawsuits and ultimately "would make the taxpayers victims," Saccone said.

State Rep. Joseph Petrarca, D-Westmoreland County, defended the move as a way of "leveling the playfield" so that victims of child sex abuse have access to the same level of justice regardless of who was involved in protecting the predators who abused them.