UNHOLY

Pennsylvania GOP Opposes Expanding Statute of Limitations for Church Sexual Abuse Victims

Months after damning grand jury report showed scope of alleged abuse in state’s Catholic dioceses.

The top Republican in Pennsylvania’s state senate has come out in opposition to a grand jury recommendation and widespread calls to lift the statute of limitations for two years to allow victims of sex abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy to file suit against the church. A bombshell August report revealed allegations against more than 300 clergy members and over 1,000 children over the course of seven decades. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports Friday that because the statute of limitations for victims of those crimes now kicks in at age 30, the overwhelming majority will never be able to take their cases to court. But rather than lift the statute, Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati is circulating a proposal to launch a victims’ compensation fund—the option supported by the hierarchy of Pennsylvania’s Catholic Church—and create a registry of sexual offenders. Scarnati and his supporters argue that lifting the statute of limitations would violate the state constitution’s remedies clause, which prohibits actions that have already been barred by time. His critics argue that a compensation fund will grant far less money to victims than traditional court cases, and will let the church off easy regarding the damage its officials allegedly caused. Sen. Mark Rozzi, who was sexually abused by a priest as a child and has long campaigned for lifting the statute, told the Inquirer that “It’s very disappointing that this is the best product they could put forward.”

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Grand Jury: Over 300 ‘Predator’ Priests in PA Abused Kids

Victoria Albert