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Pennsylvania Ends Future Child Sex Abuse Charges Time Limits

Associated Press

   READING, PENNSYLVANIA - Pennsylvania enacted legislation Tuesday to
   give future victims of child sexual abuse more time to file lawsuits
   and to end time limits for police to file criminal charges.

   Gov. Tom Wolf signed new laws he said will help repair ``faults in our
   justice system that prevent frightened, abused children from seeking
   justice when they grow into courageous adults.''

   The legislative package was based on recommendations in last year's
   landmark grand jury report about the cover-up of hundreds of cases of
   child sexual abuse in six of Pennsylvania's eight Roman Catholic
   dioceses over much of the 20th century.

   However, Republicans with majority control of the state Senate blocked
   the two-year window, which was a top priority of victim advocates,
   victims and state Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

   They all want the state to temporarily lift time limits that currently
   bar now-adult victims of child sexual abuse from suing their
   perpetrators and institutions that may have helped hide it.

   About two dozen states have changed their laws on statutes of
   limitations this year, according to Child USA, a Philadelphia-based
   think tank that advocates for child protection.

   Wolf, a Democrat, signed bills to invalidate secrecy agreements that
   keep child sexual abuse victims from talking to investigators, and to
   increase and clarify penalties for people who are required to report
   suspected child abuse but fail to do so.

   Wolf signed the bills at Muhlenberg High School in Reading, the home
   district of state Democratic Rep. Mark Rozzi, a champion of the
   legislation and who has spoken publicly about being raped as a
   13-year-old boy by a Roman Catholic priest.

   "We know our work is not done today, it's going to continue,'' Rozzi
   said.

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