Abuse Lawsuits Open a Second Front on Time Limits

By Peter Smith
Post Gazette
November 16, 2018

http://www.post-gazette.com/news/faith-religion/2018/11/16/Sexual-Abuse-lawsuits-Catholic-diocese-Pittsburgh-grand-jury-Pennsylvania/stories/201811160164

The dozen lawsuits filed this week against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh represent the opening of a second front in the effort to overcome the statute of limitations and enable victims to sue over decades-old sexual abuse, even as a similar effort remains stalled in Harrisburg.

The plaintiffs allege that the diocese engaged in a systematic effort at fraud and concealment, which the victims couldn’t have known about when they were younger because it’s only now in the open, thanks to an August grand jury report.

As a result, they claim, the statute of limitations that normally would have closed the courtroom door to them long ago should be opened wide.

It’s an argument that their attorneys tried more than a decade ago without success. But this time they are banking on the statewide grand jury report released in August to reverse their fortunes.

“Upon reading the grand jury's report, plaintiff learned the diocese was a location rampant with child molestation for decades,” reads language in one of the lawsuits, which is echoed in others.