More victims have come forward in recent months due to the surge of news stories and coverage of Pennsylvania Catholic Church sex abuse.

Many of these cases involve decades old claims of abuse. Some of these claims also argue that the dioceses are responsible for covering up these issues and failing to thoroughly investigate the problems of abuse in the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania and other states.

Due to the way the statute of limitations was set up in the past, most of the cases shared in connection with or having to do with the grand jury report could not have been linked to criminal charges. Many of the victims of these sex abuse crimes kept these matters private for many years, only speaking out recently as it became clear that abuse was pervasive in the Catholic Church.

Basics of The Proposed Law

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives moved recently to tighten the penalties for people who do not take action to report suspicions about repeated child abuse cases and to make it explicit that no contract can include non-disclosure terms that block people from talking to police in child molestation investigations.

This legal proposal came about as a result of a grand jury report that came out in 2018 regarding claims of sexual abuse of children by approximately 300 roman Catholic Church clergy across Pennsylvania. According to that report, the abuse goes back as far back as seven decades.

Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in support of this proposal. Many of the victims who have taken legal action or shared their stories with media claim that the Catholic Church have reason to know about the severity of the situation but failed to take action to deepen the investigations or to identify the priests who have been associated with any form of sexual abuse.

A recent story coming out of York County as reported in the York Daily Record involves a 75-year-old former priest who is accused of molesting two different boys in the area where altar boys and priest prepared for mass. That priest faced two counts of corruption of minors and four counts of indecent assault.

According to those speaking out in that particular case, multiple reports were made about that particular priest, but the Catholic Church failed to do a thorough investigation.

The Impact of The Scandal on Catholics

According to a Gallup Poll published in March and reported in USA Today, as many as 37% of US Catholics are contemplating leaving the church because of not just the sex abuse crisis, but the church’s way of managing it. In 2002, only 22% of Catholics were contemplating leaving their religion after a news series indicated the abuse and subsequent cover up.

If you or someone you know has been subjected to abuse in the Catholic Church and are concerned about your rights or compensation, you could be eligible to discuss your legal options with an experienced sexual abuse attorney. Top Class Actions can help you identify a sexual abuse attorney you need to assist you.

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