The New Jersey Catholic Church is facing an increase in sexual abuse lawsuits since the Garden State expanded the statute of limitations on sex crimes. According to Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, the New Jersey Clergy Abuse Hotline received nearly 600 calls in the first ten days after the new law went into effect on December 1^st, 2019.

About the Extended Statute of Limitations

In April of 2019, the New Jersey legislature passed a bill that extends the civil statute of limitations for sexual assault and abuse to the victim’s 55th birthday, or within seven years of the time they recover memories of the incident(s). Governor Phil Murphy signed the bill into law on May 13.

The problem for the overwhelming majority of victims is that the abuse occurred years, even decades ago. Previous to the enactment of the current law, most cases were blocked because of the two-year statute of limitations; they now have an opportunity to seek justice against their abusers, or at least the institution – in this case, the New Jersey Catholic Church – that allowed it to happen.

Sweeping it Under the Rug

The problem of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy is one that goes back centuries, with complaints dating back as far as the Fourth Century. During most of that time, victims attempted to seek justice through the Church’s own legal system, canon law – but were intimidated into silence. In later centuries, it was standard practice for Church officers to simply transfer a priest accused of pedophilia, using the excuse of “family problems.”

By 1985, victims in the U.S. had had enough and began turning to secular civil courts for justice. Common defense strategies on part of the Church included the claim that sexual abuse by clergy was a “recent” phenomenon, that there was no way to predict which priests would exhibit such behavior, and even blaming the mental health profession for failing to recognize the symptoms.

By the mid-1990s, sexual abuse cases in the Catholic Church began getting considerable attention from the media and the public at large in the U.S. and abroad. In one 1994 case, a scandal involving a priest named Brendan Smyth even brought down the Irish government.

In 2004, the John Jay College of Criminal Justice published a report that revealed a total of 10,667 allegations of abuse against nearly 4,400 priests between 1950 and 2002.

Chickens Come Home to Roost for the New Jersey Catholic Church

In Aug. 2018, a grand jury in Pennsylvania released a report describing cases of sexual abuse against over 1,000 minor children by Catholic clergy – four of whom had ties to the New Jersey Catholic Church. That report also found that senior Church officials went to great lengths to cover up these cases, while at the same time making records of the incidents.

That report has motivated a number of states, including New Jersey, to extend the statutes of limitations on sex crimes, particularly those involving the victimization of children.

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