PENNSYLVANIA
Times Herald
By Nick Miccarelli, Times Guest Columnist
POSTED: 06/09/16
I was nothing short of shocked when a dear friend of mine sent me a picture of the St. Rose of Lima Church bulletin on Saturday. It read, “State Representative Nick Miccarelli voted in favor of House Bill 1947 which states that private institutions can be sued as far as 40 years ago for millions of dollars, while public institutions may not be sued for any crimes committed in the past.” This statement, printed in the church bulletin, is patently untrue. The simplicity of this statement leaves out much, but most glaringly it leaves out the true goal of the bill. I did vote in favor of HB1947 because as I reviewed the legislation, forefront in my mind was justice for the victims, not sympathy for the predators that committed heinous crimes against children or any public or private institution that allowed sexual abuse to continue unaddressed. HB1947 will allow those who have been molested as children to have their day in court.
There is no one, and I mean no one, with any understanding of the law who would claim “public institutions may not be sued for any crimes committed in the past.” Google “Jerry Sandusky Penn State Lawsuit” if you need to see evidence that public institutions can be sued. What this bill did was to expand the statute of limitations for claims of child molestation. Put simply, it allows those people who are raped as children more time to face those who raped them. I was one of 180 members of the House of Representatives who believe this bill will help victims. We also believe that this bill would let child predators across Pennsylvania know that they will not be free from punishment if they simply run out the clock.
At first, I was shocked that my own parish would print something so misleading without so much as a phone call to me. I myself sat in the pews of St. Rose two days before the bulletin was brought to my attention by my friend. Lastly, many of my constituents have my cell phone number, and my office number is a 10-second google search away. I would have gladly made myself available to discuss this legislation with Father Canavan, a man I have immense respect for, or anyone else from St. Rose or any other organization that had concerns regarding the intent of this legislation.
It wasn’t until today that I realized the lies about this bill are being preached at more places than St. Rose. When I arrived in Harrisburg, I saw Rep. Tom Murt of Montgomery County. Tom is a fellow Iraq War veteran and possibly the kindest and most mild-mannered person I’ve met since being elected. By the way, Tom goes to a Catholic Church every single day. For the first time in almost eight years, I saw Tom Murt visibly upset. He told me how his parish, sold the same falsehoods to their parishioners as did St. Rose with him sitting right in the pews.
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