HARRISBURG (PA)
ABC 27
July 23, 2019
By Christine McLarty
The first of its kind lawsuit is being announced at the PA State Capitol Tuesday morning. We’re expecting the announcement of a lawsuit on behalf of a Catholic Clergy child sexual abuse survivor.
At 10:30 Tuesday morning a man who said he’s a survivor of child sex abuse from 2 priests is speaking out. The Plaintiff lives in Missouri but is back to present his case. As a child he lived in Milton, PA an hour north of Harrisburg. While serving as an altar boy he says he was repeatedly raped by 2 Harrisburg Diocese Priests at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church.
Up to this point, the statute of limitations prohibited many child sex abuse survivors from filing. But according to a new ruling, there’s a lawsuit loophole. On June 11th, the Pennsylvania Superior Court paved the way for child sexual abuse survivors to file lawsuits under certain conditions.
In that case Renee Rice vs. The Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese, Rice sued over the cover-up of abuse, not the actual abuse. Local lawyers said this lawsuit loophole offers a glimpse of hope for others victims. “For those people who really want to get into discovery with the Diocese, ” said Sexual Abuse Attorney Nathaniel Foote, “Find out what documents the Diocese has on their abuser, or other abusers, this provides an avenue for that for them.”
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