Pa. Senate OKs child-sex abuse bill, nixes retroactive clause

PENNSYLVANIA
Daily Times

By Marc Levy, The Associated Press

POSTED: 06/30/16

HARRISBURG, Pa. >> The Pennsylvania Senate voted unanimously Thursday to lift time limits for some perpetrators of child sexual abuse to be sued by their victims and prosecuted by authorities, amid fresh Roman Catholic Church scandals in Pennsylvania that have inflamed a push for the legislation.

However, the Senate also rejected a provision approved overwhelmingly in April by the House to restore the ability of onetime-child victims to sue for damages if they are now older than the current legal age limit of 30.

That provision has been hotly debated, particularly with prosecutors in Pennsylvania uncovering a long-running scandal in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese and states increasingly providing that window to victims who are now older.

But the provision ran into concerns from senators that it would conflict with Pennsylvania’s constitutional case law, and it was opposed by the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference and the Insurance Federation of Pennsylvania, which represents for-profit insurers.

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