CHURCH Survivors Support Unlimited Time to File Sex Abuse Claims

By Kevin O'Connor
VT Digger
April 16, 2019

https://vtdigger.org/2019/04/16/church-survivors-support-unlimited-time-file-sex-abuse-claims/

The national Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests is supporting a Vermont bill that would eliminate the state’s six-year statute of limitations for filing civil claims of child sex abuse.

“We pay attention to good legislation when it comes up across the country,” SNAP Executive Director Zach Hiner said in advance of his scheduled phone testimony Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. “We think this bill is an example of good reform.”

Vermont law allows people to file civil claims of child sex abuse only up to six years after they realize the actions have caused personal harm. SNAP says that’s a problem, as survivors often require decades to feel ready to speak publicly, with the average age of disclosure being 52, studies show.

“This reform is critical not just for justice and closure for survivors but also for the prevention of future issues,” Hiner said. “People can learn what happened in the past so they can create policies and procedures to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Bill H.330, as passed by the House last month, would apply retroactively to any child sex abuse “irrespective of any statute of limitations in effect at the time the abuse occurred.”

In all such cases, the bill would allow damages against an organization that “employed, supervised, or had responsibility” for the offender, but only if that entity was found negligent in its handling of the case.

Vermont’s Catholic Church has paid more than $30 million in the past quarter-century to settle some 40 clergy misconduct lawsuits involving child sex abuse. In the past, the state’s largest religious denomination has not only defied court orders and outside review but also disagreed with SNAP to the point it stopped speaking with reporters who quoted organization officials.

That’s changed under current Bishop Christopher Coyne, who has expressed his intent to work with a local and state task force of police and prosecutors now investigating the history of church-wide misconduct. Coyne also has released accusers from nondisclosure agreements and formed a lay committee to review clergy personnel files and, once finished, publicly release the names of offenders.

Coyne isn’t publicly contesting H.330. His collective actions, in turn, are drawing praise from SNAP.

“I think it’s great that Vermont has a bishop who’s being open,” Hiner said. “It’s what needs to happen.”