Proposed bill suggests lifting statute of limitations in sex abuse cases.

hockeybeat · Mar 13, 2009

The Catholic Church is displeased with the bill, noting that if it is passed, that victim payments could bankrupt the Brooklyn Diocese.

Some highlights:

The Child Victims’ Act of New York (A.2596), sponsored by Democratic Assemblywoman Margaret Markey from the 30th district in Queens, is modeled after a similar law passed in California in 2002 that lifted the statute of limitations on sexual abuse lawsuits for one year. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles had claims totaling $1 billion, and eventually paid $660 million to more than 500 victims of child sexual abuse by clergy. Settlement claims totaled $1 billion statewide.

If the legislation passes in New York, “it will devastate the Catholic Church and there is no disputing it,” said Assemblyman Lopez. “The Catholic Church is going to suffer tremendously in a number of ways.”

Markey’s bill proposes a one-year retrospective window that would allow any person to bring a claim, no matter how old an incident, against businesses, non-profits and religious organizations. Similar incidents in public schools would be exempt.

***

In leading the opposition to the bill, Lopez has said Markey’s bill is directed and targeted at the Catholic Church, and creates an unfair double standard that fails to address allegations of abuse in New York public schools.

He has criticized the bill’s hypocrisy for failing to address that abuse. He has asked, “Why don’t we now pass something that’s all-inclusive and not have a double standard? I need to know this because when I go back to the people that ask me, ‘Why is there one standard for one group and another for the other,’ I need to have an answer to that.”

Lopez’s bill will provide the same opportunities for all children to have an equal statute of limitations when bringing a claim and “creates a more just standard,” said Feinberg. “If we’re seeking to protect children, let’s give all children the same opportunity to seek justice for their claims. It makes the playing field the same. We are just trying to make it the same standard in both situations.”

Markey acknowledges “the statute of limitations affected by this bill applies to non-public sector organizations and institutions,” but said her bill “will also help abuse victims who have claims against units of municipal or county government, including school districts.”

Current law says a victim of child sexual abuse in a public institution has only 90 days from the date of the incident to file a Notice of Claim and then one year to bring a case. Markey’s bill leaves the discretion up to the courts to give permission for the suit to proceed or approve a “late notice of claim.”

***

Mike Cullen, co-director of the New York chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said, “If the statute was lifted, I would look into criminal charges and bring charges against the Catholic Church.”

He came forward “a little over 20 years ago” when he was 30, decades after the abuse, after a friend committed suicide. As children, the same priest, who is now dead, had sexually abused both of them.

“Oftentimes, people don’t speak up for 30 or 40 years. The statute works as this stonewall. Victims sometimes can’t complain about predators who are still out there,” Cullen said. “There is so much truth out there, and it needs to come out.”

In 2002, U.S. bishops agreed to remove every clergy member from ministry who had been found to have committed child sexual abuse. For many years, the Diocese of Brooklyn, which also includes Queens County, has offered assistance to those who claimed to have been sexually abused as children by priests. Every year, the diocese spends $2 million on these efforts and to safeguard children.

“In the last five years, our Church has learned much from historic failures,” said Bishop DiMarzio when he addressed the Cathedral Club’s annual dinner on Jan. 29. “Each adult must undergo a criminal background check and participate in our VIRTUS program, (and) our children learn the techniques of predators through our Child Lures Program. The diocese is voluntarily audited to ensure the processes and procedure really protect children.”

He added that all allegations of abuse “are immediately referred to the appropriate district attorney and a vigorous investigation headed up by an agency of retired NYPD Sex Crimes detectives.” The diocese also offers therapy and assistance to those who “allege abuse by a priest, church employee or church volunteer” and has a 24-hour phone line for victims and Victims Assistance and Safe Environment offices.

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In the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, “it has been very difficult for us,” said archdiocesan spokesman Tod Tamberg. They paid their settlement portion of $215 million by selling the 12-floor archdiocesan Catholic Center and liquidating 50 properties they were holding for future use. They now lease four floors of the building to house administrative office space. The two entities responsible for paying the remaining balance of the $660 million settlement were religious orders that had clergy involved and insurance. Of the 50 properties they sold, Tamberg said, “We were hoping to generate some income from those properties to support the work of the Church.”

Currently, there is a one-year moratorium on lending money to parishes in need in Los Angeles. “It’s been difficult for us, and we need to accept this situation and what’s happened and move forward gracefully. But make no mistake, this is devastating. You very well may have to sell parishes and schools to fund settlements,” said Tamberg.

When the legislation passed in 2002 during the height of the clergy sexual abuse case, “it sailed through legislation and there was no way to defend against it. We had cases that dated back to 1929. A number of cases were certainly true, but the bottom line was, you could never know for sure whether or not a claim was certifiable because the people were dead and evidence was gone. We lost a sense of fairness when the statute of limitations was lifted,” said Tamberg.

***

Dean Mark Sargent of Villanova Law School said in an April 2007 article in Commonweal magazine, called Vengeance Time: When Abuse Victims Squander Their Moral Authority, there is a common misconception that Catholic churches are able to afford multi-million dollar settlements. For victims, he wrote, “the Church is just getting what it deserves, and even these amounts are insufficient to compensate victims fully for their pain and suffering.”

He asked, “Who, then, will pay? Not the molestors, not the long-dead or retired bishops and chancery officials who enabled them, and not even the superiors who are still in office. The bill will be paid by closing and selling off older, marginal parishes that can barely support themselves in the inner cities and poor rural areas. It will be paid by closing Catholic schools already stressed by the increasing cost of providing private education, particularly to the poor. As usual, the poor will pay…”

Lopez knows if Markey’s bill is passed, “it will bankrupt the Catholic Church and it will take away from a lot of good institutions and programs that the Church provides, especially to the poor and urban communities,” said Feinberg. “Think about how horrible this would be… If this bankrupted the Church, especially in the Brooklyn area, people go there for everything, from housing to meals to all kinds of assistance.”
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