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	Victim Advocates Seek Shift in Law By Bill Zajac The Republican [Springfield MA] November 28, 2005 A local priest who was abused by his parish priest as a minor and a local clergy abuse activist have embarked on a campaign to support legislation to remove the statute of limitations on sex crimes against children. The Rev. Bruce N. Teague, a Springfield Diocesan priest who has worked as a chaplain in Boston the past few years, and Peter C. Pollard, the head of the Greater Springfield chapter of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said they hope the state Legislature will act on the issue within the next year or so. They said a combination of the current law in which criminal charges of child sex abuse have to be filed within 15 years of the crime and the fact that most victims of child sexual abuse are not ready to initiate accusations until their mid-40s allows for many abusers to escape accountability and to continue to abuse. "It is really important to hold people accountable for what they have done and get justice. If it is criminal justice, then all the better," Pollard said. Pollard and Teague believe holding a sex offender criminally accountable is the first step toward changing the person's behavior. "It is not a crime where one solution fits all. Some people can be treated and will hold themselves responsible," Pollard said. "The notion that sex offenders have a 100 percent rate of recidivism and that all offenders have 300 victims is just not true. The rate of recidivism of sex offenders is much lower than it is for other crimes," Pollard said. Experts estimate the rate of recidivism for sex offenders is about 20 percent for offenders who received no treatment and 10 to 15 percent for those with treatment, according to Pollard. Pollard, a victim of clergy abuse in Eastern Massachusetts as a child, said the problem is much broader than the Catholic church. "I have seen how widespread this is," said Pollard, a former longtime Department of Social Services case worker. Pollard currently works for the Northampton affiliate of Stop It Now!, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing the perpetration of child sexual abuse. Teague and Pollard said getting the support of legislative leaders for a roll call vote on the issue remains one of the biggest obstacles to enacting legislation. Several bills proposing the elimination of the civil and criminal statutes of limitations have been introduced in the Legislature. Teague and Pollard have been pushing for support of the legislation while working with the Coalition to Reform Sex Abuse in Massachusetts.
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