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Gov. Cuomo’s Vow to Push Child Victim’s Act Brings Hope to Journalist and Other Survivors Abused by Priests

By Steve Jimenez
New York Daily News
June 14, 2017

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/cuomo-push-child-victim-act-brings-hope-journalist-article-1.3248289

Gov. Cuomo brought child sex abuse survivors hope after vowing to stand with them and advocates pushing for the passage of the Child Victim's Act. (JEFFERSON SIEGEL/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

Three weeks ago, my father passed away peacefully after a year-long bout with pancreatic cancer; he lived to be 95. A crucial element of his peace was hearing from me at his bedside that Gov. Cuomo would soon introduce his version of the Child Victims Act to the state legislature.

My father had followed the bill's progress for a decade and was relieved to know that the Governor was standing with survivors, advocates, and families — leading us in our final push for justice. And Gov. Cuomo is not alone in Albany: other leaders on the front line include Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, and Senators Brad Hoylman and Jeffrey Klein.

My father was a devout Catholic who had fought in two wars before he turned twenty — the Spanish Civil War and World War II; he had a finely-tuned moral compass and sense of justice. (Please listen up, Senate Majority Leader Flanagan!)

Senator Flanagan, Cardinal Dolan, and the Catholic Conference remain opposed to the passage of the Child Victims Act (MIKE GROLL/AP)

Like my mother, he felt terrible regret about failing to protect me from the predator who had sexually assaulted me for four years — my favorite teacher at Holy Name elementary school in Brooklyn. At the time, my father traveled frequently for work; my mother also worked full-time. It never dawned on them that this teacher they trusted — with whom I played hockey in the winter and went to Coney Island all summer long — was forcing me to engage in sexual acts.

I've never forgotten when the nightmare began because it was in the same autumn that President Kennedy was assassinated. All I could really grasp between the ages of ten and fourteen was that something felt very, very wrong. And for many years after that, I believed that what was "wrong" was me, not the pedophile who had robbed my childhood or the Church that had shielded this twisted individual.

David Perino (r.), assistant legal counsel to NY Governor Andrew Cuomo, talks with survivors of childhood sexual abuse in Albany. (JEFFERSON SIEGEL/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

Senator Flanagan, Cardinal Dolan, and the Catholic Conference remain staunchly opposed to the Child Victims Act's one-year "window," which will allow older survivors like me — who have been barred from seeking justice — to file a civil claim. These same officials want to prevent victims like me and Charles Marri — also raped in the Brooklyn Diocese — from having our day in court.

No one in the Church is questioning that we were abused for years. One priest who assaulted Charles is now in prison for life in Massachusetts after he raped yet another young boy (the Church had knowingly moved the priest from parish to parish, and state to state). In my case, the religious order to which my abuser belonged has apologized to me in writing. But without the Child Victims Act, survivors like us have no recourse to justice in the courts.

Senator Flanagan and his allies want survivors to absorb the lifelong costs of the abuse we suffered, including treatment. In reality, less than 5% of survivors in New York were abused by clergy or members of religious orders. Statistically, the largest number of victims are abused by family members or other individuals with whom the child has regular contact. Yet the Catholic Conference has been the most obstinate lobbyist against the Child Victims Act.

The reason is simple: a fair process in a court of law will compel Church officials to disclose what they knew about hidden predators and when they knew it. After decades of covering up these sordid secrets, they would prefer to "let sleeping dogs lie." They are eager to protect themselves from institutional liability — no different from public and private schools, yeshivas, athletic organizations, and other institutions that cover up crimes against children.

Cardinal Dolan has established a Victims Compensation Program in the New York archdiocese, with Brooklyn and other dioceses beginning to follow his lead. But those programs do not cover me and the other 95% of survivors whose only hope is Governor Cuomo's Child Victims Act. Now that the Governor has demonstrated once again his strong commitment to Justice for All, it is past time for the Republican-led Senate to follow his lead in protecting children instead of obstructing justice.

 

 

 

 

 




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