NEW YORK
New York Daily News
BY
GARY GREENBERG
ANDREW WILLIS
MELANIE BLOW
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Saturday, October 8, 2016
Timothy Cardinal Dolan says he is on the side of children and an ally of survivors fighting for the passage of the Omnibus Child Victims Act, which would finally fix New York’s shameful failure to let victims of sexual abuse pursue justice in state courts. He says he supports an even stricter bill — one introduced by Sen. Andrew Lanza and Assemblyman Michael Cusick.
The cardinal is being economical with the truth.
The truth is that the Roman Catholic Church opposes legislation that ensures those who rape and molest our children will be held accountable. The bill the church is championing instead would ensure that New York’s sex offenders stay on our streets, protected by the laws.
An honest comparison of the two bills in question reveals that there is not one area where the bill the church supports is tougher than the Omnibus Child Victims Act.
Both bills apply to public and private institutions.
Both the Child Victims Act and the Lanza-Cusick bill eliminate criminal statutes of limitations for future sexual abuse against children.
The Child Victims Act eliminates civil statutes of limitations too, whereas the Lanza-Cusick bill extends them by five to 10 years. The problem here is that research shows it takes the average survivor 21 years to disclose their abuse.
Another vital difference: The Child Victims Act establishes a one-year window allowing survivors of past abuse previously denied justice to identify their perpetrators by bringing forward civil claims. The Lanza-Cusick bill has no such window.
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