New Jersey Governor Didn't Let His Catholic Faith Prevent Doing Right by Sex-abuse Victims

By Rekha Basu
Des Moines Register
June 13, 2019

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/rekha-basu/2019/06/13/new-jersey-governor-wont-sacrifice-children-save-his-church-clergy-sex-abuse/1430833001/

I recently got to meet and talk to the New Jersey governor, who last month signed a law that this column has repeatedly advocated for in Iowa. It greatly increases the statute of limitations for victims to file suit over sex offenses committed when they were children.

Currently in Iowa, lawsuits must be brought within four years from the time someone discovers they were sexually abused and harmed by it. New Jersey victims will, as of December, have seven years from when they first realized the harm they suffered from such abuses – up to age 55. They are currently limited to age 20 and two years from that recognition.

In Iowa, where civil claims must be brought within four years of discovering the abuse and injury, state Sen. Janet Petersen (D-Des Moines) has repeatedly attempted to raise the time frame to 25 years after a victim turns 18. She says research shows the average child victim comes forward only at 52. She has been urged on by numerous Iowa victims of child sexual abuse, but has met with intransigence from the Legislature's Republican majority.

The executive director of the Iowa Catholic Conference, Tom Chapman, has lobbied against the civil limitations bill, emailing a Register reporter that "The passage of time makes it difficult for any accused person or institution to defend themselves."

The Iowa Catholic Conference also registered in opposition to a change in state law on sex abuse by a counselor, therapist or school employee. It currently requires claims to be filed within five years of ending therapy or leaving school, but Petersen had tried to get any limit removed if the victim was under 18.

The disclosures of sexual abuses by priests have put a recent focus on the church. But as has been well documented, child sex abuse happens in schools, homes, the sports world, and even on a doctor's examining table. So it is baffling why the Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature and governor's office have repeatedly held up consideration of meaningful measures to allow victims to seek justice. And I don't count raising the time frame to file criminal charges from 10 to 15 years of the victim's 18th birthday, which the Legislature did this session. Forty-two states, including New Jersey, have no criminal statute of limitations for childhood sexual assault. Before the latest tweak, that had tied our laws on criminal and civil statutes of limitations with Ohio's as the weakest of any state's, according to the organization Child USA.

I asked New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy what it took to get his state's bill passed. He said it took Democrats. Not only is the governor a Democrat but both houses of the Legislature are controlled by Democrats. Still, it took two years to get the bill passed. That's though survivors of sex abuse had "packed the rafters" and shared "incredibly moving stories" of the impact of the abuses they suffered.

When the government was in Republican hands, he said, it was reluctant to take on "entrenched institutional interests" that opposed relaxing the time limits. Nine lobby groups opposed the change, including the New Jersey Catholic Conference, the New Jersey School Boards Association and the Insurance Council of New Jersey.

After New Jersey’s attorney general last fall announced a criminal investigation into clergy sexual abuse, the state's Catholic dioceses established a fund to compensate victims who forfeited their right to sue. "We wanted to make an emphatic statement that we were standing with survivors," said Murphy, who was in town to campaign for presidential candidate Cory Booker, the Democratic senator from New Jersey.

The U.S. Catholic Church spent $633,458 lobbying New Jersey lawmakers against the legislation, according to a report commissioned by lawyers representing child sex-abuse survivors. A statement from the New Jersey Catholic Conference reported in The Hill disputed that all of that money was spent on this issue, saying lobbying efforts were also directed to health care, child care, immigration reform and affordable housing. The Iowa Attorney General's office says it lacks the authority to conduct criminal investigations but has launched a hotline to take complaints about clergy sexual abuse.

On signing the bill, Murphy, who is Catholic, issued a statement acknowledging it had “evoked strong passions” on both sides. “Opponents argue that by exposing religious and nonprofit organizations to potentially massive financial liabilities, the bill may have the unintended effect of inhibiting these organizations from providing the services that many vulnerable New Jerseyans rely on,” he said. “I take these concerns seriously, but I cannot deny victims the ability to seek redress in court for sexual abuse that often leaves trauma lasting a lifetime.”

Iowa Senate Minority Leader Janet Petersen and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy talk getting justice for sex-abuse survivors under state law. (Photo: Rekha Basu)

Murphy said lawmakers need to check their own inherent biases when crafting public policy, including religious ones. He also also signed a Death With Dignity bill, saying at the time, "As a lifelong, practicing Catholic ... I am torn between certain principles of my faith and my compassion for those who suffer unnecessary, and often intolerable, pain at the end of their lives."

It's not going against your faith to want a church or any institution to pay for tolerating abuses or covering them up. The religious values of those who do should be questioned. If only all lawmakers could think more independently, and do what they're elected to do. Few things rank as high as protecting children from harm.