Pedophile-Reachback Bill is Dead For 2010

Rep. Mike Lawlor, D-East Haven, Rep. Beth Bye, D-West Hartford, and Sen. Mary Ann Handley, D-Manchester, just announced they are pulling from consideration a bill that would extend the statute of limitations on child sex-abuse cases that in recent years have rocked the Roman Catholic Church and lately, St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, where a former doctor, now dead, was found to have abused hundreds of Hartford-area children while practicing pediatric medicine.

 Lawlor, co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and the others said there’s just not enough support for the bill, which would allow people older than 48 years of age to pursue sex-abuse claims. He hinted there are active negotiations, however, that could yield an agreement on legislation that would go forward next year. “There’s a lot of legal technicalities involved in this stuff and there are a lot of reasons not to publically get into the explicit details,” he said. “I can only say for my part that I’ve had a chance to talk to pretty much everybody involved in these things over the last couple of days and I actually think people understand that there’s a very good reason to find a way to resolve this stuff.”

He said that for older victims, there are still legal options to pursue the people who abused them. “There’s more that can be done and should be done,” Lawlor said. “Everyone is very motivated and there’s a lot of incentives to deal with these things and I have a sense that’s going to happen. There’s a lot of emotion attached to this and there are a lot of legal technicalities. These cases are differeent. These are about children who were sexually abused oftentimes by very powerful and influential and intimidating people, who the profile of a child predator, the manipulative behavior they engage in, the grooming behavior they engage in is very consistent and because of that children are very reluctant to come forward with their allegations because they won’t be believed or they’ll be victimized a second time. Many kids are told the bad things that will happen to them; sometimes made to sign a pledge under penalty of eternal condemnation to never say a word about this . It’s not a surpr5ise that 20,30,40,50 years later, for the first time they come forward with this information.””

“It’s time to rethink,” Handley said. “We’re going to keep going.” Church officials had lined up against the bill, claiming they could be bankrupted.

Barbara Blaine, president of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, issued the following statement:

“Reforming the statute of limitations protects kids by helping topublicly expose dangerous child molesters and deter reckless employers. Compensating those already wounded is only one benefit to this legislation. Even if every single person who was sexually assaulted by Riordan in childhood gets some kind of settlement, that doesn’t absolve lawmakers of the duty to protect children by giving victims the chance to warn families about predators through the justice system. We commend the courageous and compassionate abuse victims who have worked so long to safeguard the vulnerable and heal the wounded through this legislative effort and hope they will have the strength and persistence to push even harder next session. “