Lack of retroactivity an issue with new bills

SUNBURY (PA)
Daily Item

Dec 1, 2019

Pennsylvania lawmakers almost got it right. While it is difficult to say a package of bills signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf this week reforming the state’s statute of limitations laws is a bad thing, it doesn’t go far enough: There is no immediate help for adult survivors of abuse, many of whom have waited decades for accountability and closure.

State Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who oversaw the grand jury that ignited the latest statute of limitations push, said the new laws accomplish three of the four recommendations made by the grand jury that examined the decades of abuse and cover-ups within the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania.

“These reforms fundamentally change our justice system and will protect generations of children who experience abuse from this day on,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said. “While we still must address justice for those survivors who made this day possible, seeing this progress gives me hope that bravery and activism will win over entrenched interests and powerful institutions.”

According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, 66 percent of children who are sexually abused are between the ages of 12 and 16. The average age a victim comes forward is age 52.

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