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	Lawmakers Stump for Changes to State's Sex Abuse Laws By Denise Lavoie Telegram & Gazette [Boston MA] February 16, 2005 BOSTON— A bipartisan group of lawmakers began a public push on Wednesday for the elimination of the statute of limitations on sex crimes, an issue that limited prosecutions of abusive priests in the Boston Archdiocese's clergy sex abuse scandal. Backers of the legislation gathered at a Statehouse news conference one day after defrocked priest Paul Shanley was sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison for raping a boy. Shanley was one of the few Catholic priests implicated in the scandal who faced criminal charges because the current 15-year statute of limitations in rape cases prevented prosecutors from going after most others. State Rep. Ron Mariano, D-Quincy, lead sponsor of the bill, said many victims of sexual abuse take years to come to grips with what happened to them. By then, it's too late to prosecute their abusers. "We need to allow victims to deal with their victimization and come forward at a time that's appropriate for them," Mariano said. An investigation by Attorney General Thomas Reilly found in 2003 that at least 1,000 children were likely victimized by more than 235 priests and church workers from 1940 to 2000. But since the scandal first erupted in Boston in 2002, only about a dozen priests have been prosecuted in Massachusetts criminal courts. More than 550 people who claimed they were sexually abused by priests settled civil lawsuits against the archdiocese. Prosecutors were able to charge Shanley because he moved out of Massachusetts in the early 1990s, a move that stopped the clock on the statute of limitations. But for dozens of other priests, prosecutors were unable to bring a case because of the statute. Similar bills were introduced in recent years, but failed. Mariano said this time the legislation appears to have broad support. He said 46 lawmakers signed on as co-sponsors. Debate is expected later in the session. State Sen. Scott Brown, R-Wrentham, said that the current statute of limitations has allowed many sex offenders to get away with their crimes, knowing they can't be prosecuted. "This is something that has been going on way too long," he said. The legislation would eliminate the statute of limitations for a variety of sex crimes, which now range from six years for indecent assault and battery to 10 years for incest to 15 years for rape. Currently, if a victim is under 16 when the crime is committed, the limitation for those crimes begins at age 16 or when the violation is reported to a law enforcement agency, whichever happens first. It would also eliminate the current statute of limitations for filing a civil lawsuit in sex abuse cases and the $20,000 limit on liability for charitable organizations. Robert Costello, 43, who said he was abused by his parish priest in West Roxbury in the 1960s and '70s, said seeing Shanley led away in handcuffs Tuesday was both gratifying and frustrating. He said most of the other abuse victims in the courtroom were unable to bring charges against the priests who molested them. "The statute of limitations in this state failed to protect them as adults and as children," he said. "They protected the pedophiles."
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