Assembly Panel Oks Bill Lifting Limits on Child Sex Abuse Civil Suits

By Colleen Diskin
The Record
June 15, 2012

http://www.northjersey.com/news/Assembly_panel_OKs_bill_lifting_limits_on_child_sex_abuse_civil_suits.html

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Child sexual-abuse victims told state lawmakers Thursday that they were denied the chance to exact justice from the churches, schools and other organizations that failed to protect them because of a two-year limit on their rights to file civil cases.

After the sometimes tearful testimony, the Assembly Judiciary Committee voted 5-2 in favor of a bill that would lift that time limit for such lawsuits against alleged abusers as well as the institutions that employed them. The bill also would establish a two-year window for anyone to refile a suit that was dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired.

Critics – including the Catholic Church – argued that the measure could lead to a flood of lawsuits from people who claimed to have been abused decades ago, cases that would be hard to prove and expensive to litigate.

Supporters said the only way victims can make organizations responsible for improving their screening and supervision of employees who work with children is to allow victims to pursue civil judgments against them.

“There has to be a line drawn where we hold institutions accountable,” said Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex, who is sponsoring an identical bill that will be the subject of a Senate hearing Thursday.

Vitale said he’s optimistic the measure will pass despite differences with some members of his own party, including Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald, D-Camden. A previous bill died in January when the legislative session ended.

Greenwald has introduced a competing measure that eliminates a time limit for victims to sue their alleged abusers but still sets a deadline for suing institutions. On Thursday, Greenwald did not respond to specific questions about his alternative version, instead issuing a one-sentence statement: “I look forward to working together with my colleagues on efforts to protect children from abuse.”

Under current law, victims of child sexual abuse have two years after they reach adulthood – or two years after they first realize, as an adult, that they had been abused – to sue the institution where the alleged abuse occurred.

Victims and advocates say it can take many years for an adult to come to terms with the abuse and to be able to talk about it, much less pursue legal action.

“No one can tell how long it will take a victim to heal,” said Christopher Anderson, executive director of the advocacy group Male Survivor, who cited his own experience of being abused while growing up in Mahwah as an example.

Representatives from the Catholic Church, as well as some tort-reform groups, argued that some time limit should remain.

“How can those who run institutions today respond to claims that are 40, 50 or 60 years old?” said Patrick R. Brannigan, executive director of the New Jersey Catholic Conference.

“Witnesses die, memories fade and documents are lost,” said Brannigan, contending the law would benefit lawyers but “do nothing to protect a single child.”

Email: diskin@northjersey.com