ALTOONA (PA)
Altoona Mirror
October 25, 2018
By Russ O’Reilly
Tommy Williams, 15, of Altoona, stood in front of a crowd on the steps of the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg. He was the youngest speaker by far at the rally Wednesday organized by Pennsylvania Victim Advocate Jennifer Storm.
About 80 people including survivors of sexual assault implored the Senate to return to session and vote on a bill that would create a two-year window to allow child sexual abuse victims to file civil suits despite the statue of limitations.
The person who abused Williams was not a Catholic priest. But Williams spoke for many now-adult victims who might have been too afraid to speak up as children when they were abused. Now time has gone by and they are prohibited as adults from suing their alleged abuser or the church that allegedly covered up the abuse.
In July, Attorney General Josh Shapiro released a grand jury report that outlined abuse of more than 1,000 children by hundreds of priests in six Pennsylvania dioceses since the 1950s. Separate investigations into the dioceses of Altoona-Johnstown and Philadelphia had been completed earlier.
Current state law allows a child sex abuse victim until they are 30 years old to file civil lawsuits or 50 years old to file criminal charges.
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