Ed Palattella: Priest case stirs debate over statute of limitations

PENNSYLVANIA
Go Erie

May 13, 2018

In his latest effort, state Rep. Mark Rozzi wants the General Assembly to pass a law that would give the victims retroactive access to the civil courts.

The prosecution of the Rev. David Poulson, the Catholic Diocese of Erie priest charged on Tuesday with child sexual abuse, will take place in Jefferson County, where Poulson owns a hunting camp.

The Jefferson County connection was notable to state Rep. Mark Rozzi.

The Berks County Democrat for years has been pushing to expand the rights of child sexual abuse victims.

In his latest effort, Rozzi wants the General Assembly to pass a law that would give the victims retroactive access to the civil courts. He has lobbied for the change by sharing his story of how a priest raped him in the mid-1980s, when he was 13.

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