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NJ Measure to Ease Sex Abuse Statute of Limitations Shows Signs of Progress

By Philip DeVencentis and Deena Yellin
North Jersey Record
February 15, 2019

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2019/02/15/nj-measure-ease-sex-abuse-statute-limitations-progresses/2870298002/

After nearly 20 years of failed efforts, proposed legislation that would ease the civil statute of limitations for sex abuse survivors is showing signs of progress in New Jersey.

State Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex, sponsor of S-477, said Thursday that the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on the measure March 7 and that he was "extraordinarily hopeful" about its prospects. Also on Thursday, Gov. Phil Murphy announced his support.

The bill would allow child victims of sexual abuse to sue until age 55, or from seven years of their realization that the abuse occurred. It would give adult victims seven years to bring a civil case, or seven years from the time they discover their abuse, whichever is later.

The bill would also give a two-year window to those victims who were previously time-barred so that they have the opportunity to pursue their cases. It would allow victims to hold both the individual and any liable institution accountable.

Current laws demand that civil action be filed within two years after a victim turns 18.

Assemblywoman Annette Quijano, the prime sponsor of the bill in the Assembly, said, "If we put short, arbitrary legal limits on their time to process, we limit their ability to pursue justice and we, ourselves, become perpetrators in their injustice."

"The language in the current bill has the approval of all the survivor groups, and that has helped to bring along some of my colleagues," Vitale said. "Now we're at a point that it seems as though the vast majority of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle support the bill. I’m extraordinarily hopeful."

Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Paterson on Wednesday, February 13, 2019. (Photo11: Michael Karas/NorthJersey.com)

The measure has also gained the backing of the New Jersey Catholic Conference. On Thursday, Executive Director Patrick Branigan said: “We fully support the elimination of the statute of limitations prospectively for both perpetrators and institutions. We support the elimination of the statute of limitations retroactively for perpetrators, which would address Sen. Joseph Vitale’s frequent comment about the need to hold accountable the 95% of perpetrators who are not clergy.”

Vitale's announcement comes on the heels of five dioceses in New Jersey releasing lists of priests credibly accused of sexually abusing children.

Murphy said, "Victims of sexual abuse, especially those victimized in childhood, deserve to find doors held open for them as they seek justice against their abusers. I commend Senator Vitale and Assemblywoman Quijano for their pursuit of legislation to extend the statute of limitations."

Similar measures have been passed in New York and other states.

Keith Rennar Brennan of Bayonne, a clergy abuse survivor who settled with the church in 2008, said it's important to extend the window for victims to come forward.

St. Anthony's Church on Diamond Bridge Ave. in Hawthorne. (Photo11: Chris Pedota/NorthJersey.com)

"This is not about the money," he said. "This has taken away my childhood and so much of my life. So many of us have lost the opportunity to become the people we could have been."

Even as the scandal was addressed in Trenton, clergy who were presiding over services on Thursday at Catholic churches in North Jersey largely steered away from the issue when they delivered homilies and recited Scriptures.

At a 25-minute Mass on Thursday morning at St. Anthony R.C. Church in Hawthorne, about 40 people listened intently to a gospel reading appropriate for Valentine's Day: When God took Adam's rib and created Eve.

After the service, Frances Koerner said she was confident the Catholic Church would recover from the scandal.

"What took place was absolutely horrible," said Koerner, a devout parishioner from Hawthorne. "But we can't stop going to church because of it. We go to church for God — not the priests."

Three of the 28 accused priests named by the Paterson Diocese — the late James A.D. Smith, the late Gregory White and Allen Stepien — had once served at the parish.

Valentine's Day also was the focus of the Rev. Richard Tartaglia's sermon at St. Mary's R.C. Church in Denville.

A homily delivered by the Rev. John McCrone at St. Rose of Lima R.C. Church in Short Hills was centered on God's healing. The pastor said before the 9 a.m. Mass that the scandal would not be brought up.

Cardinal Joseph William Tobin greets parishioners at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark before he is installed as head of the Archdiocese of Newark on Friday, Jan. 6, 2017. (Photo11: Michael Karas/Northjersey.com)

"The God who created us is also the God who heals us," McCrone told his flock. "He still desires us to be perfect — to strive to be the best we will be."

Of eight church services attended by reporters for The Record and NorthJersey.com on Thursday, the scandal was addressed on just one occasion.

"For those who were victimized by it, we mourn for them," said the Rev. Eugene Bettinger, a priest in residence at the Church of the Assumption in Emerson, where three accused priests had served.

The pastor said the topic would be discussed in more depth at a Sunday Mass.

In fact, multiple pastors told reporters the scandal might be addressed to bigger audiences of parishioners over the weekend.

That was the case in Haworth, where the Rev. Robert Wolfee has been pastor of Sacred Heart R.C. Church for two years.

One of Wolfee's predecessors, Michael Walters, now permanently removed from ministry, has had multiple sex abuse allegations leveled against him.

"If I were to discuss it," Wolfee said, "it would not be during a homily. I would only discuss an issue during a homily if the readings and gospel bring up a similar message."

At the Church of St. Michael in Palisades Park, Parochial Vicar Ernest Rush said parishioners will hear more about the scandal at a Mass on Sunday.

"We'll give out any information we have," Rush said. "We're trying to be cooperative, and we're trying to figure it out ourselves."

St. Michael Church had been the assignment for Monsignor Thomas Duffy, a priest accused by one victim, beginning in 1956.

"Monsignor Duffy was interested in education and in the children of the Bergen County area," according to a 1975 obituary published in The Record.

Duffy was responsible for building the St. Michael parochial school for students in grades one through eight.

That institution now is Notre Dame Academy. Mark Valvano, the academy's principal, declined to comment on the scandal and on the school's founder, referring questions to the Archdiocese of Newark.

Some Facebook users remembered Duffy as a "very loving" figure at the church.

"He never did anything more than give you a fatherly hug," one person wrote. "My heart breaks for anyone who suffered because of a Judas. I pray they will heal."

At Thursday's Mass at St. Michael, regular parishioners filed into a back room of the church, some clutching rosary beads and praying.

Neither Duffy nor the list of accusers were mentioned during the service.

In Ridgewood, parishioner Vincent McCarthy said it is important to remember the good in humanity.

"We've been blessed with great priests," said McCarthy, a longtime member of the Community of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, where three accused priests had once preached. "I understand people were hurt, and that's a shame."

Staff Writers Kristie Cattafi, Catherine Carrera, Meghan Grant, Gene Myers, Stephanie Noda, Owen Proctor, Marsha A. Stoltz and Anthony Zurita contributed to this article.

Email: devencentis@northjersey.com

 

 

 

 

 




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