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February 17, 2005
Repeal of time limit on sex crimes sought
BOSTON -- The day after the sentencing of one of the most notorious figures in this region's 3-year-old clergy abuse crisis, lawmakers and victims' advocates said yesterday they are building momentum to repeal statutes of limitations on sex crimes that have prevented other abusers from facing lawsuits and prosecution.
Under Massachusetts law, rape cases must be brought within 15 years of the incident being reported to law enforcement or, in the case of a child, 15 years of the accuser's 16th birthday, whichever comes first. Other sex crimes have shorter statutes of limitations.
As a result, few of the priests implicated the ongoing scandal in the Catholic Church, have faced charges, leading to widespread frustration among abuse victims.
"We need to allow victims to deal with their victimization and come forward at a time that's appropriate to them," said Rep. Ron Mariano, D-Quincy, in a news conference at the Statehouse with abuse victims and a bipartisan group of legislators.
On Tuesday, defrocked priest Paul Shanley was sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison for raping an altar boy in the 1980s -- a case that could be tried only because Shanley left Massachusetts in the early 1990s, stopping the countdown to the statute's expiration.
Mariano is sponsoring three bills, which have attracted 46 co-sponsors. Two would eliminate the civil and criminal and statutes of limitations. If passed, the change in the criminal law would not apply retroactively, meaning priests currently protected from prosecution would remain so.
A third bill that would remove the $20,000 limit on liability awards in cases where charitable organizations, such as churches, were found to have facilitated sex crimes. The Boston Archdiocese far exceeded that cap in making payments for its landmark 2003 settlement with more than 500 victims.
Failed attempt
A similar series of bills filed in 2002 never emerged from the House Judiciary Committee, though those initiatives had many fewer co-sponsors, legislators said. The support of 81 members of the House and 21 members of the Senate would be needed for passage.
At least four states -- California, Connecticut, Missouri and Illinois -- have scaled back criminal and civil statutes of limitations on sex crimes since 2002, said David Clohessy, director of the Survivor's Network of those Abused by Priests. Similar initiatives have failed, or are still being considered in many other states.
"Massachusetts tends to set the pace on child protection in general and clergy abuse in particular, so this could have a very powerful impact across the country," Clohessy said.
Posted by Nealus at February 17, 2005 08:12 PM
