HARRISBURG (PA)
CNHI News Service
September 25, 2018
By John Finnerty
The state House voted 171-23 in favor of a proposal that would change the state’s statute of limitations law to open a two-year window to allow victims of old child sex crimes to sue in civil court.
The House is scheduled to hold a final vote on the amended bill today.
The Senate is likely to take the matter up next week.
Statute of limitation reform has emerged as the most prominent controversy of the fall legislative session, which began Monday.
Opening a window for lawsuits was one of the recommendations made by a statewide investigative grand jury that found that more than 300 predator priests had sexually abused at least 1,000 child victims in six dioceses over seven decades. Almost all of the cases cited by the grand jury took place too long ago for victims to now sue for damages.
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