UPDATE:  On December 1, 2019, the New Jersey Sexual Abuse Survivor Law went into effect. This law opens up a two-year window for sexual abuse survivors to file lawsuits, regardless of when the abuse took place. Read more here!

A bill currently before the Garden State legislature would give sex abuse survivors more time to sue New Jersey Catholic Churches.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Gov. Phil Murphy has registered his support for the new legislation, which would expand the statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit in cases of sexual assault.

If signed into law, as seems likely, survivors who were previously prevented from taking legal action against alleged abusers will now have a two-year period during which they can seek justice. Another component of the bill greatly extends the current statute of limitations of two years from the date of the alleged abuse.

On Thursday, survivors and their advocates gave emotionally-charged testimony before the state Senate Judiciary Committee in support of the bill.

New Jersey Catholic Churches Get On Board

After having long opposed such laws, the New Jersey Catholic Conference has registered its support for the extension and even elimination of statutes of limitations for sexual crimes against minor children. However, in cases of prior offenses, the Church would prefer to limit that to the specific perpetrators rather than the institution itself. Unfortunately, this is not always practical, since many cases of alleged abuse took places years, even decades ago – and the guilty parties may be incapacitated or dead.

This is one rationale for the current bill. Decades can go by before a survivor becomes able to report their experience. The proposed New Jersey law would allow abuse survivors to bring legal action until the age of 55, or within 7 years or becoming aware of their harm and its connection to the abuse, whichever is later.

A Sense of Urgency

Although child victim advocates have been calling for legislative reform for many years, there has been considerable resistance from New Jersey Catholic Churches as well as pro-business politicians who fear that defendants could be bankrupted in litigation.

However, last August, a report resulting from a grand jury investigation in Pennsylvania exposed more than 1,000 reported cases of child sexual abuse, allegedly perpetrated by over 300 members of the clergy from across the Keystone State.

In mid-February, five Roman Catholic dioceses published the names of nearly 200 priests against whom credible allegations had been made. However, all them have either died or left the Church.

Now, New Jersey Catholic Churches have announced plans to establish a compensation fund for survivors. A similar fund in New York has offered settlements of up to $500,000.

By filing a claim against the fund, an alleged victim will forfeit the right to sue in a court of law; however, the burden of proof is lower and the claimant will be spared the stress of reliving the events over the course of a trial. Although they will be barred from filing a legal claim, survivors who accept settlements from the compensation fund will not be under a “gag order” and are still free to share their stories.

Related:

How Much Has The NJ Catholic Church Paid to Sex Abuse Victims?

New Jersey Catholic Church Reveals Names of Accused Priests Prior to Opening of Compensation Fund

Catholic Dioceses in New Jersey Disagree With Change in Victim’s Law

How Do I Know if I Qualify for the New Jersey Catholic Church Sex Abuse Compensation Program?