MASSACHUSETTS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those abused by Priests (314 566 9790, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)
The highest court in Massachusetts today made it easier for sex abuse victims to expose child molesters which will help prevent future sexual violence against the vulnerable. We applaud the court and the brave survivor who brought this case. The unanimous ruling is part of a larger, longer trend toward repealing or reforming archaic, predator-friendly statutes of limitations that keep being exploited by those who commit and conceal child sex crimes as a way to protect their secrets and evade consequences for their horrific acts.
We share Justice Margot Botsford’s view that “in many cases, victims of child abuse are not able to appreciate the extent or the cause of harm they experience as a result of sexual abuse perpetrated on them for many years.’’ We are grateful Massachusetts lawmakers realized this and extended the state’s troubling statute of limitations and that Massachusetts’ highest court upheld the legislature’s wise and compassionate reform.
We hope this ruling will prod more lawmakers to extend or eliminate statutes of limitations which protect wrongdoers, endanger kids and re-victimize victims.,
We also hope it will encourage more victims of sexual violence to use civil courts to expose child molesters and their allies. The legal system can be difficult and draining. But it can also often help prevent more violence to kids, if survivors are strong and brave enough to use it.
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