Turning point for child sex abuse laws

By Katie Davis
WJLA TV
March 26, 2019

https://bit.ly/2TNN28u

Across the country, thousands of people have been identified as victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests when they were children. Yet many of these survivors never got their day in court because it’s too late for criminal charges and civil statutes of limitations didn’t allow them to file a lawsuit.

Psychologist Ann Hagan Webb, herself a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, now counsels other victims.

"I have never met a survivor who wanted change for themselves. They just don't want it to happen to other children,” she said.

Webb is advocating for changes to state laws that would give adult survivors more time to take legal action, in part because many people don’t remember or acknowledge childhood sexual abuse until decades later. She said she started to recall the abuse she endured only when she was in her 40s, after having her own children. It’s something she’s also heard from many of her patients.

"People have come forward to me as late as in their 80s,” Webb said.

Her sister, Carol Hagan McEntee, is in a position to help as a Rhode Island state representative. McEntee has introduced a bill to extend her state’s civil statute of limitations to 35 years after survivors turn 18.

"They're not cleaning their own house,” McEntee said of the Catholic church. “This is going to force them to do it.”

Nine states currently have no civil statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse, and more than two dozen others have introduced legislation to reform or extend their statutes in 2019, according to child protection think tank CHILD USA.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Child Victims Act into law last month, allowing survivors to file civil lawsuits until the age of 55. Previously, New York’s limit was age 23.

New Jersey lawmakers are considering similar legislation right now. Attorney Mitchell Garabedian represents 45 clergy sexual abuse survivors in that state who he said were victimized over a 35-year period.

“Amending legislation so that victims can try to obtain justice in court will help victims obtain transparency and accountability which does not now exist,” Garabedian said. “Consequently, victims will have a greater ability to try to heal.”

At the same time, state legislatures consider reforming statutes of limitation, more than a dozen Attorneys General have opened statewide investigations.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi recently announced she was opening investigations into all seven Catholic dioceses in her state and establishing a tip site victims can use to report past abuse.

"I know it's painful for you as a survivor to discuss past abuses, but your story will help bring justice,” Bondi said.

The statewide investigations follow a 2018 investigative grand jury report in Pennsylvania which found that hundreds of Catholic priests in that state sexually abused thousands of children for decades.

"Something was different about this Pennsylvania grand jury. It just, it grabbed people by their hearts, I think,” Webb, the psychologist, said.

Rhode Island’s new attorney general, Peter Neronha, had legislation introduced that would allow a similar investigation in his state.

"I have never been comfortable in relying on a private party to give the information to me that I need to make the decisions. That's any institution,” Neronha said. “If I wanted to know something that I thought was relevant to an investigation, then I use the legal process to do that.”

The problem of childhood sexual abuse goes far beyond the Catholic church. Sarah Klein was sexually abused by Dr. Larry Nassar while growing up in Michigan. Nassar is now serving a life sentence after molesting hundreds of young gymnasts.

"Larry abused me under the guise of medical treatment three to four times a week, every week, every year...for 17 years of my life,” she said.

Klein has joined the effort to update state laws and now testifies during hearings across the country. She said she’s heartened to see changes starting to take hold nationwide, something other advocates echoed.

"I think everybody sees the tide has changed,” said McEntee, the Rhode Island state representative. “It's nationwide. It's global."