Sexual Abuse Survivors Seek Legislature’s Help in Holding Abusers Accountable
By John Finnerty
Advocates rallied at the Capitol on Tuesday to call on state lawmakers to allow victims to seek justice for long-ago abuse ahead of an expected grand jury report examining the Catholic church’s handling of child sex abuse by priests across Pennsylvania. Efforts to reform the statute of limitations law in the wake of child sex abuse scandals have been mired in controversy over whether possible reforms should to be made moving forward or include provisions to allow victims to seek justice for crimes that have already passed the statute of limitations. The Senate last year approved Senate Bill 261, a measure that would have eliminated the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution of child sex crimes. But that measure only looked forward and offered no relief for victims of crimes that have already passed the statute of limitations. That’s not good enough, said Shaun Dougherty, who was abused by a priest in Johnstown. Opening a window to allow victims of old crimes to come forward won’t just benefit those victims, it will encourage people to come forward and identify abusers who may still be preying on young people, he said. Dougherty thinks outrage over revelations in an grand jury report expected to be released to the public by the end of this month might spur change. “I don’t have faith in church leadership,” he said. “But I have faith in the parishioners” that they will demand that the church take action when the report becomes public. The grand jury is investigating allegations of sexual abuse by priests in six Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania: Harrisburg, Greensburg, Allentown, Pittsburgh, Erie and Scranton. A spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference declined to comment on Tuesday’s rally. “In light of the upcoming grand jury report, we do not believe it’s appropriate at this time for us to discuss legislative issues,” said Amy Hill, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference. State Rep. Frank Burns, D-Johnstown, said removing the statute of limitations would eliminate an incentive that may encourage church officials to cover-up crimes rather than deal with them promptly. Child sexual abuse cover-ups “will continue to happen” until the Legislature takes meaningful action to fix the state law. “I think the victims deserve their day in court,” he said. Tuesday, one of those at the Capitol rally was Teresa Lancaster, one of the women featured in the Netflix documentary, The Keepers, which examined the cover-up of sexual misconduct by priests in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Lancaster was Jane Roe in a lawsuit against the church and the priest who abused her. The lawsuit was dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired, Lancaster said. “Twenty years later, I got a letter of apology” from church officials, Lancaster said. It was 40 years after she was abused, she said. State Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-Berks, has introduced legislation, House Bill 612, that would extend the statute of limitations and open a window for victims of old crimes to seek justice. It has not moved out of committee. “This problem has not and will not go away,” he said. “We are not going anywhere until we get justice.” How much support his bill has with leaders in either chamber of the General Assembly is still unclear. Jennifer Kocher, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre, said Senate Republicans “believe eliminating the statute of limitations is long overdue.” She noted that the Senate passed its version of statute of limitations reform in February 2017. Rozzi and his allies are looking to “set aside the good policy in SB 261 and instead focus only on one provision that is unconstitutional,” she said.
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