One of the topics that I have frequently written about is that of Child Sex Abuse.
I discussed this problem when the scandal was hitting the Penn State Football program and the Boston Red Sox
Recently I told the story of how some Catholic Bishops are trying to financially destroy the organization that supports sexual abuse survivors.
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Earlier this month, I asked you to petition state legislators and the Judiciary Committee to release the Protection from Sexual Predators Act (H 469) from Committee and allow for a floor vote by the Legislature. This Act will eliminate the Statute of Limitations for crimes involving the sexual abuse of children.
Well we did it! After years of resistance and public criticism, state legislative leaders agreed on March 20th to let the full House of Representatives vote on an increasingly popular proposal to eliminate the statute of limitations on prosecuting child sexual abuse crimes.
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Under criminal law, prosecutions of certain cases are limited after 27 years, and they are limited to as few as three years in some civil court cases, according to advocates of the new proposal.
This bill has been bottled up in the Judiciary Committee for years because of opposition from the Committee’s Chair, Rep Eugene O'Flaherty (D-Chelsea). According to news reports, he apparently allowed a Committee vote on the bill when he learned that it was supported by a majority of the Judiciary Committee and some 100 of the House’s 160 members.
The Judiciary Committee gave the measure a favorable vote, sending it to the full House in spite of opposition from O'Flaherty.
The Senate does not have its own version of the bill.
Advocates for victims of sexual abuse welcomed the movement, saying they have worked to change the laws since the clergy sexual abuse scandal rocked the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston 10 years ago. In 2006, the statute of limitations for criminal cases was extended from 15 years to 27 years, but only under certain restrictions. Proposals to further change the laws have languished.
“The timing is right,’’ said Carmen Durso, a Boston lawyer and a representative of the Coalition to Reform Sex Abuse Laws. “There is nothing stronger than an idea whose time has come.’’
