Victims of Child Sexual Abuse Waiting for Justice, Too: Editorial
PennLive
The scene on the Capitol steps last week was heart-warming, even though at its core it was a protest. The star was Libre, the horribly abused the Boston terrier puppy whose recovery is nothing short of miraculous. With Libre their call to action, hundreds of people demanded tougher legal penalties for those convicted of abusing animals. As state Sen. Richard Alloway, R-Franklin, noted, Pennsylvania is one of only three remaining states without a felony cruelty statute. "Libre's Law," introduced by Alloway as Senate Bill 1372, would increase some penalties for animal abuse and add a third-degree felony category for offenders who intentionally cause death or serious physical injury to an animal. Libre, now 4 months old, was found hours from death on July 4 (hence his name, which means "liberty" or "freedom") and Alloway's bill looks to be on the fast track to passage. Identifying opposition has been next to impossible – who is against punishing people who hurt puppies? But that's why we can't help but compare the outcry in Libre's case to the stalled legislation that would give the victims of child abuse a better chance of confronting their abusers and winning some measure of redress in the civil court system. House Bill 1947, to eliminate or extend statutes of limitation in criminal and civil cases involving child sexual abuse. sailed through the house in April by a vote of 180-15. That bill would have: Eliminated the criminal statute of limitations on most child sex crimes. Allowed an individual to file a civil action against institutions and organizations based on child sexual abuse until the age of 50, rather than the current 30. Eliminated time limits on when victims can file a civil action against certain individual defendants, including the perpetrator; any individual who conspired with the perpetrator of child sexual abuse; and any individual who knew of child sexual abuse but failed to report the abuse to law enforcement or a child protective services agency. Eliminated the criminal statute of limitations for a conspiracy or solicitation that facilitates the offenses. Lowered the standard for actions against governmental defendants from "gross negligence" to "negligence." When the bill got to the Senate, it passed 49-0, but it differed from the House version on a critical point: An amendment introduced by Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson County, axed the extended legal remedies for victims who were sexually abused as children and whose legal recourse to sue had expired. That recourse — in the wake of the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese grand jury report released in March — had been the driving force behind efforts to reform the state's child sex crime laws. So a bill that was expected to arrive swiftly on Gov. Wolf's desk and just as swiftly be signed into law is now languishing. Who can be against punishing the people who hurt children? Consider who has the most to lose. In hearings on the legislation, testimony was slanted toward the opponents, who talked about questions of constitutionality, not remedies. And the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference has been working strenuously against any bill that would increase the church's likelihood of paying out more for its culpability in enabling ongoing abuse of children by priests. Cruelty toward the helpless in any form should never be tolerated in a civilized society, and we're certainly not asking legislators to choose between tougher animal cruelty laws and justice for the victims of child sexual abuse. We want both. But we'd also like to see more lawmakers tackle the tough issues head on rather than going for the easy win. Abused children — and the suffering adults they often become — deserve at least as much attention as an abused puppy, if not more.
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