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	Senator Walks to Lansing to Protest Child Abuse Laws ABC 12 May 10, 2010 http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/story?section=news/local&id=7431729 [with video] A state senator has put on comfortable shoes and is walking 50 miles to the state Capitol to call attention to Michigan's child abuse laws. Democratic Sen. John Gleason left Sunday afternoon from St. Robert Church in Flushing. Gleason said he's walking to prevent what happened to the 5-year-old grandson of one of his constituents. "It happened the morning that my mother was buried. The priest came over to console our family, and unbeknowing (sic) to us, he had taken my grandson into my mother and dad's apartment, and that's where the incident took place," Dale Kenney said. Problems developed when his grandson turned 22. By that time, there was nothing to be done to fight back because the statute of limitations in Michigan is seven years. "All the time that they have carried this inside their mind and body, it's just an awful exposure to life," Kenney said. "And so many times it has created little monsters out of young children growing up." Gleason wants to extend the statute of limitations to 20 years to help abuse victims step forward. He said he's not targeting the Catholic Church. "We're not placing the blame on any church or any organization. This is an individual crime," Gleason explained. Gleason was originally contacted by constituents about seven years ago, he said, and he vowed to offer the families some relief. "You can never replace what has been lost when you're assaulted as a child." Kenney explained his motive this way. "This isn't only against the Catholic priest. This is a crime that's punishable in any walk of life that somebody has committed this horrible crime. Whether it be a clergy or an individual, they need to be punished." Gleason is sponsoring a bill in the Michigan Senate. Rep. Deb Kennedy, D-Brownstown, will introduce similar legislation in the House.
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