ERIE (PA)
Times News
Dec. 13, 2019
By Ed Palattella
A Pennsylvania Superior Court decision provides an option to sue over claims of clergy sexual abuse and cover-ups.
The legal developments are not over in the clergy sex abuse crisis in Pennsylvania.
A lawyer reminded me of that reality as I was writing Tuesday’s article on how much the Catholic Diocese of Erie has spent on abuse claims and related expenses. The figure is nearly $12 million, including about $6 million in payouts from diocese’s compensation fund for victims.
The state General Assembly likely limited the final amount of the payouts in the Erie diocese and other Roman Catholic dioceses throughout the state. Lawmakers did so by pursuing a constitutional amendment that would suspend the statute of limitations and give victims a two-year window to sue, no matter how old the claims.
Legislation failed that would have made the two-year window immediate. The process to amend the state constitution, including a voter referendum, will take years.
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