Lawmakers renew fight over statute of limitations for child sex abuse victims

By Dennis Owens
ABC 27
April 03, 2017

http://abc27.com/2017/04/03/lawmakers-renew-fight-over-statute-of-limitations-for-child-sex-abuse-victims/

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – The daffodils were in full bloom on a sun-splashed day at the Capitol.

But encroaching on that beautiful scene was an ugly topic on the Capitol steps.

Dozens of victims of childhood sexual abuse rallied at noon. They brought signs. They brought their stories, intensely personal stories, that they bravely shared on the microphone.

“I watched my daughter struggle and suffer and shake because of the trauma she experienced,” one heartbroken mother said.

“I battled bouts of depression as I kept my secret and trusted no one,” said a 50-something-year-old man.

“I’m sentenced to a life of misery and pain,” said a middle-aged man whose son was abused and committed suicide. “What do I do? What remedy do I have other than the courts?”

“When I called the Cambria County district attorney, they slapped me in the face with the statute of limitations,” said a 50-year-old woman. “I had aged out.”

Numerous victims told their agonizing stories of pain, despair, fear and a sense of helplessness.

Current law requires abuse victims to accuse their abusers by a certain age. If they do not, they lose the chance to prosecute or sue.

Most lawmakers want to remove those statutes of limitations moving forward, but there is a fight over opening a one-time window that would let victims who have timed out to seek justice and sue the perpetrator. It’s called retroactivity and it’s being pushed by Rep. Mark Rozzi (D-Berks). Rozzi was abused by a priest as a boy, but the statute of limitations has run out on him.

“If you don’t support retroactivity then you’re supporting perpetrators, the institutions, the insurance companies,” Rozzi said bluntly of the choice his fellow lawmakers must make. “So you have to pick your side here.”

The Senate has already passed a bill that would eliminate criminal and civil statutes of limitations but without the retroactivity that Rozzi desires. The Catholic church and insurance industry are strongly opposed to retroactivity and some lawmakers insist it’s unconstitutional.

But Rozzi and the victims surrounding him on the Capitol steps sharing their stories say lawmakers should pass the bill and let the courts then do their job.

“Let’s find out the real answer whether it’s constitutional or unconstitutional,” Rozzi said loudly from the podium. “But we must walk together hand in hand to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. They will make that decision.”

The House Judiciary Committee is expected to take up the statute of limitations bill Tuesday, but it’s unclear whether it will include retroactivity.