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Pa. House Passes Measure to Allow Voters to Create a Window for Child Sex Abuse Victims to Go to Court

By Ivey DeJesus
PennLive.com
January 27, 2021

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2021/01/pa-house-passes-measure-to-allow-voters-to-create-a-window-for-child-sex-abuse-victims-to-go-to-court.html

With House passage of a measure that proposes to lift expired statute of limitations on civil cases, Pennsylvania on Wednesday stepped closer to joining ranks of states that have overhauled child sex crime laws. The measure moves to the Senate for consideration. This file photo was taken in August 2018 during the announcement of the findings of the grand jury investigation into clergy sex abuse in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania on Wednesday stepped closer to paving the way for adults who were sexually abused as children to seek recourse in court against their predators.

By a vote of 187-15, the state House of Representatives passed a measure that could lead to a temporary lifting of expired statute of limitations for some abuse victims, allowing them to file civil suits.

House Bill 14, authored by Rep. Jim Gregory, R-Blair, calls for a voter referendum on a two-year retroactive window that would lift expired statute of limitations to allow such legal civil action.

The bill now heads for the Senate, which has signaled strong support for the measure.

“This is a wonderful day. Attitude of gratitude for the people of Pennsylvania who have waited a long time,” Gregory said just moments after the vote. “This is just another step in the process of recognizing those who have been sexually abused in past decades. They have been waiting a long time for this and I‘m just grateful to colleagues who voted for this so strongly that they believe in justice for victims but also believe in the protection of our families.”

Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-Berks, who has made statute of limitations reform one of his signature initiatives, called it an easy vote.

“Victims deserve their day in court. Victims have waited long enough,” he said.

The bill calls for amending the state constitution to create the window for victims to pursue claims and it requires voter approval. It is a companion piece to an effort launched in 2018 by Rozzi to reform the state’s child sex crime laws in the wake of a set of stunning investigations into clergy sex abuse in Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania.

After much debate and failures, Rozzi’s companion piece was enacted into law by Gov. Tom Wolf in 2019, as part of a cadre of bills that substantially reformed the state’s child sex crime laws.

The new law abolished criminal statute of limitations on childhood sex abuse; and extended the amount of time victims have to file civil actions against their abusers to age 55.

Rozzi, himself a survivor of clergy sex abuse, delivered yet another impassioned appeal to lawmakers to approve Gregory’s measure. Rozzi over the years had given similar appeals in the wake of the grand jury investigations that uncovered the systemic and widespread sexual abuse of children at the hands of Catholic priests.

Rozzi outlined the string of investigations into clergy sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in Pennsylvania, starting in 2003 with the first investigation into the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Two subsequent investigations there were followed by equally stunning investigations into the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. In 2018, the 40th Statewide Grand Jury investigation uncovered nearly identical child sexual abuse conspiracies and cover-up across all remaining dioceses in the state.

“Representatives in this House have been fighting for this since 2005,” said Rozzi, who admitted to having been emotionally defeated in the past by the General Assembly’s failure to advance reforms.

Nationwide, since 2002, some 24 so-called revival bills have been enacted. Some jurisdictions have had multiple windows, including California with two, and Hawaii with three. Overall there have been 19 retroactive windows opened by states and five revivals.

Vermont has completely eliminated statutes on child sex crimes and has enacted a permanent retroactive window.

“This is a great day,” said Marci A. Hamilton, a University of Pennsylvania law professor and statute of limitations reform advocate. “We have been working since 2005–16 years— to bring justice to the child sex abuse victims of Pennsylvania. This is a moment to thank all the brave survivors including those who have passed away for standing up for truth. And the prosecutors like Lynne Abraham and Josh Shapiro for their groundbreaking grand jury investigations.

“It is now time for the Pennsylvania bishops and insurance lobbyists to support the victims and to cease sabotaging their path to justice and healing. A window will serve the public not only the survivors, as it brings unknown predators to light, shifts the cost of the abuse to the ones who caused it, and educates the public about widespread child sex abuse.”

The measure now heads for the Senate for consideration. It is expected to be overwhelmingly supported in that chamber.

The Senate had been concurrently pushing its own constitutional amendment bill, which was scheduled for a full chamber vote on Wednesday but was tabled, signaling the chamber’s willingness to consider Gregory’s bill.

Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Luzerne County, chairwoman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has called the measure a priority for her chamber.

If approved by the Senate, the measure would have fulfilled all the legal requirements in order to go to voters. Measures to amend the state constitution must pass the House and Senate in two consecutive legislative sessions. Lawmakers approved the measures in the last session. If the Senate acts swiftly, the ballot question could go to voters as early as this spring.

The measure would have to clear the General Assembly by Feb. 18 to get on the May 18 primary ballot. The Senate reconvenes on Monday.

The constitutional amendment measure would further reinforce the removal of the sovereign immunity defense, which gives public and government institutions a shield from being sued in these cases.

Rozzi’s 2018 bill, enacted two years ago, eliminated the statute of limitations going forward in criminal cases, as well as the sovereign immunity defense for public and private institutions, including government bodies such as schools. The constitutional amendment bill essentially reaffirms the idea that those institutions would not be shielded from any lawsuits brought during the two-year retroactive window.

Rozzi’s bill provided for other changes, extending the amount of time some victims are allowed to sue their abusers.

Additionally, the 2019 law signed by Wolf increased penalties for mandatory reporters who don’t report abuse, and exempted conversations with law enforcement from non-disclosure agreements.

 

 

 

 

 




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