Archbishop Opposes Bill to Remove Time Limits on Sex Abuse Cases, WISN, January 12, 2010

Archbishop Opposes Bill to Remove Time Limits on Sex Abuse Cases

WISN
January 12, 2010

http://www.wisn.com/news/22220684/detail.html

MADISON, Wis. -- At a hearing on Tuesday in Madison, Archbishop Jerome Listecki said changing Wisconsin's law to remove time limits for sex abuse victims to come forward could be detrimental to the church.

The bill would lift those time restrictions for civil cases or lawsuits, but not for criminal charges.

It could resurrect decades old cases of child sexual abuse, and the debate has the new leader of Milwaukee's Catholic Church at odds with Milwaukee County's top law enforcement officer.

Listecki put himself front and center in the debate involving child sexual abuse on Tuesday and began his testimony with an apology for the past actions of some priests.

"I apologize to the victims and their families for the harm that has been caused," Listecki said.

But the archbishop opposes a bill that would temporarily lift the civil statute of limitations on old abuse cases, opening the church up to the possibility of lawsuits he suggests run the risk of bankrupting the archdiocese.

"This bill will have the effect of doing something everyone says they don't want it to do, that is targeting the Catholic Church," Listecki said.

On the other side of the debate is Milwaukee County's district attorney, who supports the bill, calling it a fundamental issue of fairness to victims.

"The process should be open for those who've suffered abuse to seek justice in the proper form. That's what this bill would allow them to do," Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said.

"I was sleeping, and he would come and abuse me," abuse victim Frank Fanera said.

Perhaps the day's most compelling testimony came through an interpreter from three men who said they were abused by a priest decades ago while they were students at Milwaukee-area Catholic school for the deaf.

"It took me such a long time before I could do anything about what happened to me, and I want to support this bill because I am a victim, and there are many victims out there who need a chance to be able to get some justice," Fanera said.

Members of the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, are also addressing the issue of child sexual abuse.

The group thanked Chisholm on Tuesday and urged Listecki to reconsider his stance on the statute of limitations.

"We have to change the laws in this state that Archbishop Weakland actually helped to create, which are predator-friendly laws," SNAP spokesman Peter Isley said.

Members of SNAP said they've requested to meet with Listecki five times over the past year and those requests have not been answered.

The archbishop and Isley did speak to each other briefly during Tuesday's hearing.