THE COST OF ABUSE | Victims push for window for statute of limitations, say law prevents closure

By Jocelyn Brumbaugh
Tribune-Democrat
May 19, 2019

https://bit.ly/2VCrgoU

Clergy sexual abuse survivor Shaun Dougherty (second from left) talks with (from left) Brooke Rush, Amanda Dorich and Jennifer Goetz, who were victims of Dr. Johnnie “Jack” Barto, at a Take Back the Night event Thursday, April 25, 2019, at Bottle Works Ethnic Arts Center in Johnstown’s Cambria City section.

Brooke Rush sat in a crowded Cambria County courtroom and listened as more than a dozen women shared details of their abuse at the hands of a former Johnstown pediatrician.

Their stories matched her experiences, but she couldn't testify because she was past the statute of limitations – age 30 for child sexual abuse.

"Even though the words weren’t coming out of my mouth, my story was still being told," she said.

Rush said she was 11 years old when, in the late 1980s, Dr. Johnnie "Jack" Barto abused her during an office visit.

After struggling for years, wondering whether Barto's invasive exam was medically necessary, Rush said she was ready to disclose the abuse, but was discouraged from doing so based on community support for Barto in the 1990s, when allegations were first made against him.

Barto's medical license was suspended briefly, but restored in 2000. The pediatrician practiced again until 2018, when he was criminally charged after dozens of patients and family members came forward with new claims of abuse.

He pleaded guilty to some charges and no-contest to others and was sentenced March 18 to 79 to 158 years in state prison.

Rush remembers starting to work on a victim impact statement to confront Barto almost immediately after she disclosed her abuse.

Even after being notified that her case was outside the statute of limitations, meaning criminal charges could not be filed, Rush still hoped to face Barto in court.

But days before his sentencing last month, Rush was told she wouldn’t have that opportunity. Only those with criminal charges filed in their cases would be permitted to read their victim impact statements.

“I lacked the ending my story also deserved,” she said. “(The statute) is ignoring an entire group of people who need the same closure.”

Thirteen Barto victims announced on May 15 that their attorneys had filed a lawsuit against the Conemaugh Health Systems, Laurel Pediatrics and the former Johnstown pediatrician.

Legislative efforts

Pennsylvania's statute of limitations requires victims to file civil claims before they turn 30 and criminal filings before age 50.

In the aftermath of a several statewide grand jury investigations that revealed child sexual abuse within the Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese in 2016, and the dioceses of Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton two years later, legislators began working to compose an amendment that would extend the statute for survivors of child sexual abuse.

State Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-Berks, is a survivor of clergy child sexual abuse and spearheaded efforts to create a retroactive two-year window in which victims could bring cases against past abusers.

The state House voted in favor of creating a two-year window for civil claims, but the state Senate ended its fall voting session last year without considering the matter.

In early April, the House again passed measures to eliminate the criminal statute of limitations for child sex crimes, and proposed a constitutional amendment to open a window for lawsuits in cases where the statute of limitations had already expired.

Some Republican lawmakers have called the amendment unconstitutional. A movement is building in Harrisburg to change the state Constitution to eliminate that argument, said state Rep. Frank Burns, D-Cambria.

“The momentum that has been built by this hasn’t wavered,” he said.

“I want the victims to know that it’s not forgotten about and there are people fighting for this every day in Harrisburg.”

A change to the state’s Constitution would take time, Burns said, and must pass the House and Senate in two consecutive sessions.

Most recently, Burns said legislation requiring clarification for victims entering into confidential settlement agreements passed the state House unanimously.

With Burns’ addition, any settlement agreement would require a provision that clearly states that the agreement does not prevent victims from discussing the abuse with law enforcement. All parties involved in a settlement would be required to sign directly under the provision to acknowledge they have read and understood it.

This amendment is retroactive, Burns added.

Although the grand jury investigations served as a catalyst for reform of the state’s statute of limitations, Burns said it is important for the public to remember changes to the law would apply to all victims of child sexual abuse, including those victimized by Barto.

Rush said there are victims like her who will not disclose abuse for years, which means delayed justice. But staying quiet can serve to allow perpetrators to continue their abusive behavior. In cases such as Barto’s, Rush said it was important for older victims to step forward to strengthen the support recent cases.

“What if none of us did?” she said. “The man was still practicing.”

Rush said she’s hopeful that, in teaming up with other Barto victims, they can bring change to the law, but also inform those who question why it takes so long to disclose sexual abuse.

“Until it happens to you, you have no idea what it takes to come forward,” she said.

'You waited too long'

Jennifer Goetz said she was 8 or 9 years old in the late 1980s, when she was abused by Barto.

“Twenty years ago, this predator should have been stopped," she said.

"Coming forward and vocalizing what was done to you as a child is so difficult. It is like having to relive that moment in time all over again."

Goetz was not able to address Barto in court during his sentencing due to the statute of limitations and recalled the mixed emotions she experienced as she listened to others' statements.

“I was so proud of them for their strength and courage,” she said. “But at the same time, I was distraught because I could not be one of them."

She added: "You finish telling your truth and then you are told that, according to our current laws, you waited too long to gather your strength and courage and come forward.

"You are being told that your abuser gets away with what he did to you just because of your age. Predators should not be protected and their victims should not be penalized based on what age they felt courageous enough to come forward."

Barto victim Erika Brosig is now clinical director and trauma therapist at Victim Services Inc., serving Somerset and Cambria counties. Brosig said the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse in Pennsylvania “places arbitrary time limits on survivors.”

She said: “In reality, many survivors don’t come to a point in their lives where they feel comfortable disclosing their childhood sexual abuse until well into adulthood, let alone feel enough confidence to pursue justice in the court system,” she said. “Many times, because of these time limits, once survivors are able to come forward, they find that their statutes have expired. The Barto case is a prime example of this.”

Brosig's case did fall within the statute of limitations, but she said Barto survivors whose cases had timed out were further silenced when they were not permitted to provide victim impact statements.

She said it’s time to change the laws in Pennsylvania “and to become a leader by putting the healing of survivors and the protection of children at the forefront.

“Child sexual abuse has a lifelong impact and every survivor deserves the chance to be heard and seek justice, regardless of what age they are when they find their voice,” she said. “The abuse does not disappear after a certain number of years. Neither should our chance to hold our offenders accountable.”