PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call
Steve EsackContact Reporter
Call Harrisburg Bureau
PA House votes to extend statute of limitations in criminal and civil cases of child sex abuse
HARRISBURG — Last-minute attempts to postpone and stop a bill that would extend the statute of limitations for child sex-abuse cases failed Tuesday in the House.
And they failed by wide margins as a majority of Republican and Democratic lawmakers united behind a belief they had the power and duty to atone for the past and make a better future for victims of child sex abuse.
The bill would eliminate a legal time limit on when child abusers can be prosecuted for future crimes, and would give victims of past abuse more time to file civil lawsuits against their abusers and any employers who might have enabled the abuse.
The measure now moves to the Senate, where it is expected to face intense opposition from Catholic-based and insurance-related lobbying groups.
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