PITTSBURGH (PA)
Tribune Review
January 28, 2019
By Deb Erdley
New York on Monday was poised to become the 10th state to temporarily suspend the statute of limitations to provide adult survivors of child sexual abuse an opportunity to sue their abusers.
Child protection advocates said the new law, passed only after a change of leadership in that state’s Senate, is the result of more than a decade of efforts. It will provide adults previously timed out of court by the statute of limitations with a one-year window to file civil suits against their abusers.
The law also extended the time for survivors to file lawsuits from age 23 to age 55 in the future and extended the statute of limitations for most child sexual abuse criminal prosecutions from five to 10 years after a victim turns 18.
In Pennsylvania, “window of opportunity” legislation has stalled in the state Senate twice in the last three years. Child advocates hope New York’s move will revive enthusiasm for change here. Victim advocates and abuse survivors worked relentlessly for change in Harrisburg last year after a statewide grand jury reported rampant allegations of child sexual abuse by clergy in Roman Catholic dioceses across the state over seven decades.
Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations caps lawsuits on child sexual abuse at a survivor’s 30 th birthday. That cap prevented scores of middle aged and older adult victims who came forward for the first time to the grand jury from filing lawsuits against their abusers.
Pennsylvania state Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-Berks, testified before the Pennsylvania grand jury about his personal abuse at the hands of a parish priest as a teenager. He has led the charge for change in Pennsylvania for several years. He commended New York lawmakers as he lamented the lack of progress in Pennsylvania, where state Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Brookville, blocked a bill that passed the House last fall.
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