PENNSYLVANIA
The Patriot-News
By Patriot-News Editorial Board
The latest charges against former Penn State President Graham Spanier, Athletic Director on leave Tim Curley and former Vice President Gary Schultz are yet another reminder that the university’s former administrators placed PSU’s image above the lives and well-being of young boys.
Child sexual abuse cases are incredibly difficult. Often the victims are afraid to come forward and plagued with guilt and emotional (if not physical) trauma.
On top of that factor is the “conspiracy of silence” of powerful institutions trying to cover up these horrific crimes. Pennsylvania has example after example: Penn State/Jerry Sandusky, Philadelphia priest abuse cases, and now the Boy Scouts of America’s “immoral” files that document decades of abuse.
How many more tragedies must come to light before Pennsylvania’s leaders put victims’ needs first? Obtaining justice for these children is further complicated by the statute of limitations. Child sex abuse cases have to be brought forward before the victim is 50 for criminal charges and before the victim turns 30 for civil charges.
However, when many of these high-profile molestations and rapes took place, the statute of limitations was much shorter, meaning men and women finally ready to come forward today can’t do so. The 2003 Philadelphia grand jury report on the Catholic Church scandal identified 63 priests who sexually abused children.
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