NEW YORK
Washington Post
By Sarah Pulliam Bailey October 6
NEW YORK — Cardinal Timothy Dolan said Thursday that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York has created a mediated compensation program for people who were sexually abused by church leaders.
Abuse survivors who are willing to waive the right to sue could in exchange receive financial compensation at an amount set by an independent mediator; a plan that mirrors compensation for victims of 9/11, the BP oil spill and the Pennsylvania State University sex abuse scandal.
Some dioceses have created similar compensation on a much smaller scale, but Dolan’s plan is significant, said Marci Hamilton, an expert who has represented hundreds of sexual-abuse survivors. Advocates for sex abuse victims have been fighting for reform in New York on the statute of limitations, the time victims have to file lawsuits.
New York has a statute of limitations that is one of the most restrictive in the country: Victims have until they turn 23 to file lawsuits. The archdiocese’s plan gives victims who may not want to go to court a chance to be financially compensated.
Some sex abuse survivor advocates see the plan as Dolan’s attempt to quietly deal with cases before New York’s legislature moves ahead on a proposal to change the statute of limitations.
“It’s a good addition, but it can’t be a substitution for statute of limitations reform,” said Hamilton, who is chief executive and academic director for CHILD USA and a distinguished scholar at University of Pennsylvania.
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