PITTSBURGH (PA)
Trib Live
October 31, 2018
By Deb Erdley
Clergy sexual abuse survivors say they have the votes to pass a state bill establishing a window for older victims to sue their abusers, and they’re challenging the Pennsylvania Senate to return to Harrisburg for a vote.
“We have the votes. The votes are there to pass SB 261 as it stands,” said Ryan O’Connor. “We just need the majority to allow it to come to a vote.”
O’Connor, 47, of Verona, who has written of his abuse as a child at the hands of a parish priest in Johnstown, is traveling the state with Jim Van Sickle, another survivor who serves as Survivor Advocacy Coordinator for Stop Child Predator, a national nonprofit group.
“There is a lot of support in the Senate for this bill, and we’re asking that they return and vote on it,” Van sickle said.
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