ALBANY COUNTY (NY)
Altamont Enterprise

July 18, 2019

Last year, we used this page to call for passage of the Child Victims Act, and we were glad when this year — with two Democratic houses — the legislature finally passed the act, extending the statute of limitations for civil suits alleging sexual abuse up to the age of 55 with a look-back year so suits, for one year, could be filed regardless of a victim’s age.

But even we weren’t prepared for the emotions unleashed when we published a front-page story last week on a priest who had served in our community — in Altamont and in the Hilltowns — being accused of raping boys in his care.

In our April 2018 editorial, we had referenced a podcast we’d produced, interviewing Richard Tollner of Rensselaerville who told us how, when he was at the tender age of 15 and…