Last year’s Pennsylvania grand jury report on Catholic sex abuse has inspired new legislation across the country, except in Pennsylvania. So far, 20 states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws extending or eliminating statutes of limitations for victims of childhood sexual abuse, enabling civil suits to be brought against abusers and/or the institutions who protected them decades after the alleged abuse occurred.

To the dismay of many survivors, Pennsylvania is not one of those states. 

The Grand Jury Report on Catholic Sex Abuse

Just over a year ago, a Pennsylvania grand jury released an 800-page report on one of the most extensive Catholic sex abuse investigations carried out since the scandal emerged in the late 1990s. The report listed hundreds of priests in six dioceses across Pennsylvania, along with incidents dating to the late 1940s. There were also more than 1,000 documented cases of abuse.

The report resulted in nationwide arrests and the downfall of at least one high-ranking church official. It also spurred the Vatican to take action against pedophile clergy and galvanized several state legislators to take action, something recommended by the grand jury, according to the New York Times. Both New York and New Jersey extended statutes of limitations, allowing victims to sue into their 50s, while Rhode Island has applied them retroactively, enabling victims to revive old claims. Montana, Vermont, and Washington have eliminated the criminal statute of limitations on sex crimes against children. Other states, such as Alabama, Arizona, and Tennessee took less aggressive steps, but did offer victims greater opportunity to seek justice.

Yet in Pennsylvania, where the renewed quest for justice began, very little has reportedly happened on the legislative front.

Reform Blocked by Massive Lobbying

Marci Hamilton of ChildUSA says, “In states that are controlled by Republicans, it’s very hard to get around the bishops and the insurance industry…staunch Catholic lawmakers…simply are not going to stop protecting their church against lawsuits.” For their part, GOP lawmakers express concern that litigation over Catholic sex abuse would bankrupt the Church and question whether or not accused priests could get a fair trial after so many years.

At least one member of the Pennsylvania legislature has ties to a major lobbying firm that represents the interests of the Catholic Church. According to a local NPR news affiliate, the Catholic Church spent in excess of $700,000 during legislative debates overextending the statute of limitations – more than it had spent in two other states over the course of seven years.

More Than Catholic Sex Abuse

Democratic state representative Mark Rozzi, himself an abuse survivor, said the issue of abuse extends beyond the Catholic Church. Such scandals have also been discovered among the Amish, the Boy Scouts of America and school teachers and pediatricians. “We’ve been through so many of these infamous cases right here,” Rozzi says. “When is enough going to be enough?”

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.