New
York state law prohibits victims of child sexual abuse from bringing criminal
charges or civil claims against abusers after the victim’s 23rd birthday.
Abusers are many: teachers, coaches, family, religious clergy of all
denominations. One of the worst – the Catholic
Church, is hiding behind enabler/abuser bishops and Pope Francis. What do
Catholics think?
Many
Catholic parishioners favor changing this unjust law and want the church to
support New York legislation that allows child abuse victims to seek justice as
adults. From Catholics who attend Mass
at St. Patrick’s Cathedral:
“It should definitely be extended. It’s a
terrible thing, and I know people who have had encounters and I feel very sorry
for them. I don’t think that’s what our religion should be,” said Annette Gould.
Araceli
Colato agreed, saying it's not fair that the law prohibits people from seeking
justice as adults.
“This
really is an issue of justice. They should do something for the victims, and
there is a lack of transparency in how the church is handling this,” said John
Murphy, who attends lunchtime Mass daily at St. Patrick’s.
“I
don’t think there should be a statute of limitations. It doesn’t make sense to
me. Why after a certain amount of time it’s as if the incident never happened?”
asked Andrei Alcruz.
And
in Brooklyn:
“The
almighty dollar shouldn’t prevent the church from doing what’s right”, said
Robyn Ventura, who attends the Church of St. Saviour in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Victims
need a “window” -- a time period where
they could bring a lawsuit for abuse that happened when they were
children. This would be an expensive window
for the Catholic Church, which has already paid out more than $2 billion in the
U.S. – with most of the money not going to abuse survivors and their families –
but for costs related to abuse allegations, which includes settlements, support
for offenders, attorneys’ fees, and other costs. The catholic church, caring only about their
bottom line fights the laws that would help the abused.
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| Cardinal Timothy Dolan - This is not funny |
Heading
up the abuse of already abused victims is Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of
New York. He runs the New York Catholic Conference, which has spent big money
to lobby against changing the state's child abuse laws. Remember, he is not just hurting abused
Catholics, he is stopping reform that would help ALL victims of child abuse in
New York. He is helped by New York
politicians who are either in the pocket of the church or are enablers/abusers
themselves: Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, and Assembly
Speaker Carl Heastie.
 |
| Flanagan, Cuomo, Heastie - Three of a kind |
Bills
to open a window and do away with the statute of limitations are sponsored by
Senate Democratic Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Senator Brad
Hoylman (D). Assemblywoman Margaret
Markey (D-Queens) who has been fighting for this bill for 10 years is hopeful a
bill will get passed. Her aides expect to meet with people from Gov. Cuomo’s
office and the state Senate this week.
“I really think we have a chance of getting this bill passed. At the end
of the session a lot of things can happen, a lot of negotiations can go on,”
she said.
Assemblywoman
Markey, chief sponsor in the Assembly of the Child Victims Act, told advocates
she decided to fight for reform because of a family member who was a victim of
sexual abuse as a child. How many of you were or know someone who was a victim?
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| Assembylwoman Markey |
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| Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins |
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| Senator Brad Hoylman |
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| Linda Fairstein |
Another
advocate, Linda Fairstein, former head of the sex crimes unit at the Manhattan
District Attorney's office, slammed the Child Victims Act foes Cardinal Dolan
and Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan for obstructing the path to reform. “There
is no reasonable opposition to this argument”, said Fairstein.
Walking
to Win
On
Sunday, more than 200 advocates for reform of the state’s statute of
limitations for child abuse marched across the Brooklyn Bridge. Marchers included Matt Sandusky, stepson of
notorious Penn State pervert Jerry Sandusky, and Phil Saviano, who was
portrayed in the movie “Spotlight.”
Marchers
came from as far away as Ohio and Florida. Others came from Pennsylvania and
New Jersey — where advocates are also fighting to reform those states’ statutes
of limitations on child sex abuse.
 |
| Marching over the Brooklyn Bridge |
“We
need to send a message. We need statute of limitations reform round the
country. It is so important for people to understand who the law is protecting
— the lobbyists and the church and not the children,” said Annette Nestler of
Cape May County, N.J., who wore a broken screen window around her neck — a
symbol of opening the window of opportunity for justice.
How
long do those of us abused in New York State have to wait for justice? Vote
these cold hearted politicians out of office.
Don’t give your money to abusers so they can use it for high paid
lawyers and lobbyists who will see to it that children never have rights in New
York. We have the power to stop the
double abuse – first by the predator and second by the institution protecting
the predator. Let’s do it.
thank you for reading my blog
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