Call for sexual abuse
hearings goes unheard

By Diane Prokop
Times Staff Writer

Countless victims of sexual abuse across the state, many documented in the 2005 Philadelphia grand jury report naming hundreds of victims abused by at least 63 archdiocesan priests, will not get their day in Pennsylvania court any time soon.
The chairman of the state House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Thomas Caltagirone of Berks County, refused to open hearings for House Bill 1137, the Child Victims Act of Pennsylvania. In a telephone interview last week, he said it was "all about money."
The bill, which was referred to the House Judiciary Committee in May 2007, would extend the civil statute of limitations until the abuse victim reaches age 50. That would mirror the extension in criminal cases enacted by Gov. Ed Rendell in 2006, when Rep. Dennis O’Brien, now speaker, was chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Currently, victims have 12 years from the date of their 18th birthday to bring suit.
It would also provide for a two-year window for civil litigation, allowing victims of child sexual abuse, previously thwarted by a statute of limitations, time to bring lawsuits against their abusers.
"It’s civil lawsuits. That’s what that bill does. It would bankrupt the school districts (with) lawsuits and civil actions," Caltagirone said. "They’re trying to eliminate property tax."
Caltagirone’s comments come days after Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham’s trip to Harrisburg last week to call for hearings on the bill.
Charles Gallagher, the deputy district attorney who was the senior prosecutor during the grand jury investigation, was upset Caltagirone would not even listen to arguments for and against.
"It’s not all about money," he said. "We believe the chair of the judiciary should open the hearings so that all the arguments can be aired properly and not just behind closed doors."
According to Gallagher, there have been hearings in Delaware where lawmakers passed a two-year window and eliminated the statute of limitations, in Maryland where legislation is pending, in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio and Colorado.
"Once you have the hearings, you hear the pros’ and cons’ validity. That’s what the whole legislative process is about — transparency," Gallagher said.
It is estimated that 300 pedophiles were identified for the first time because of Californian legislation, which enacted a one-year window. That would be the most significant impact of the bill, according to the National Association to Prevent Sexual Abuse of Children (NAPSAC).
"…besides the opportunity for abuse victims to seek justice, would be the identification of possibly hundreds of Pennsylvania pedophiles. Until now many have remained under the radar because the statute of limitations on their offenses prevented their victims from exposing them," a NAPSAC position paper stated.
Unless Caltagirone concedes his position, the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference’s problems with the extension of the statute of limitations are a moot point, for now.
In addition to monetary and insurance concerns, they claim a lesser standard of proof, according to spokeswoman Amy Hill.
Advocacy groups like the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) don’t agree. In its support of window legislation, the national organization emphasizes that the burden of proof would continue to rest with the victim, not the person who has been accused. Such legislation doesn’t relax any rules of evidence, the group says, stressing that an institution can be held liable only if it is proved that leaders knew of a person’s predatory past but failed to take appropriate action.
The Rev. Thomas Doyle, a high-profile advocate for victims who have been abused by members of the clergy, quoted Pope Benedict XVI at last week’s news conference, which Doyle says stand in stark contrast to the efforts of the Catholic bishops of Pennsylvania and other states to defeat legislative reform.
"I am ashamed, and we will do everything possible to ensure that this does not happen in the future. I think we have to act on three levels: the first is the level of justice and the political level…then there is the pastoral level," Doyle read. ••
Reporter Diane Prokop can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dprokop@phillynews.com