Lift the Statute of Limitations on Child Sex Abuse

Guam Daily Post
September 19, 2016

http://www.postguam.com/forum/editorial/lift-the-statute-of-limitations-on-child-sex-abuse/article_7dc4b126-7e2f-11e6-8c66-1350d8146d9a.html

Gov. Eddie Calvo should sign Bill 326, the measure, which passed the Guam Legislature unanimously that would lift the statute of limitations on civil lawsuits involving child sex abuse. Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, the apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Agana has urged the governor to veto the bill because he fears “the archdiocese will be will be exposed to unlimited financial liability.” That liability “will very likely” bankrupt the archdiocese, he wrote in his letter that was read to Guam congregations attending Sunday Mass this past weekend.

The governor’s legal team may find some legitimate reason to veto the bill, but it should not be because of concern about the impact on the people or institutions involved in such monstrous behavior, whether as perpetrator, facilitator or after-the-fact concealer. The sexual abuse of minors is a heinous crime and should be treated as such.

The legislation follows recent allegations of sexual abuse of altar boys by members of the clergy decades ago, but the legislation does not mention the church or any other person or institution. The archdiocese, or anyone else, will only be penalized after a trial in a court of law, in which damages and culpability must be demonstrated to the legal standard.

We presume the church or anyone else accused of wrongdoing would be treated fairly in the courts. But fairness is also owed to the victims; they are also due their day in court.

We understand the concerns of archdiocesan officials about the financial future of the church in Guam. We do not wish to see the charitable and educational work of the church disrupted; both are sorely needed by the community.

But criminal behavior, particularly of such a harmful nature, cannot be allowed to go without consequences. Bill 326 should be signed into law and victims should be given the opportunity to seek damages from the sexual predators who caused such harm, and from those who allowed it to happen.

Hon cites the “unintended consequences” of the legislation, but the community has a responsibility to respond to the more severe and very real consequences of allowing children to be sexually molested.