Category Archives: Sexual Abuse

Lawsuit Filed Against LDS Church for Covering-up Sex Abuse

Editor’s note: Kosnoff Fasy, together with attorney Robert Fitzsimmons from Wheeling, West Virginia and attorney Carl Kravitz from the Washington, D.C. law firm of  Zuckerman Spaeder, filed a civil lawsuit against the Church of Jesus Christ, Latter-day Saints on behalf of a dozen sexually abused minor children, alleging that church officials failed to protect them from a known sexual predator they allowed to serve as a babysitter for church families.

The following is an article, which appeared in the Journal-News from Martinsburg, West Virginia.

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“Lawsuit filed against church for cover-up of sex abuse
October 25, 2013

 

By Edward Marshall ([email protected]) , journal-news.net

 

MARTINSBURG – A lawsuit filed in Berkeley County against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, otherwise known as the Mormon Church, and local church officials accuses church leaders of covering up allegations that the son of local church officials sexually abused 12 children over the course of more than five years.

Christopher Michael Jensen, 22, of Cheswick Drive, Martinsburg, was found guilty of one count of first-degree sexual assault and two counts of sexual abuse by a custodian Feb. 6 following a jury trial in Berkeley County Circuit Court.

The criminal charges involved only two of the 12 children suing the church, who were ages 3 and 4 at the time of the abuse.

Jensen was sentenced July 29 to 35 to 75 years in prison. He was the son of a church high priest in the church’s Hedgesville Ward and his mother previously served as a local Relief Society president with the church. The suit accuses church leaders of holding out Jensen as a church member who could provide leadership and counsel to young church members, even though the church was allegedly repeatedly put on notice or had knowledge about allegations that Jensen had sexually abused children of church families. The suit also accuses church officials of recommending Jensen as a babysitter for church families, despite allegedly being made aware of sexual abuse allegations as early as 2007.

The children suing the church were between the ages of 3 and 12 when they say they were sexually abused by Jensen.

The suit names the Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the church; Don Fishel, who was the bishop of the Hedgesville Ward for the Martinsburg stake of the church between 2007 and 2013 and a former member of the Stake High Council for Martinsburg; Steven Grow, stake president in Martinsburg; Jensen, who was a member and elder of the Hedgesville Ward of the church; Jensen’s father, a high priest and member of the Stake High Council for Martinsburg between 2007 and 2010;

and Jensen’s mother, a member of the Hedgesville Ward and Relief Society president for the church in Martinsburg between 2006 and 2009.

The Mormon Church is divided into various “wards” and “stakes.” At the local level are wards, consisting of a geographic area administered by a bishop and two counselors. A cluster of eight to 12 wards is grouped into a stake, which is administered by a stake president. The Relief Society is the official adult women’s organization of the church and members are considered to be spiritual leaders appointed by a ward bishop.

A stake, including the wards within a stake, is governed by the stake president and the Stake High Council, a body of 12 high priests.

In 2007, before the alleged abuse of the children suing the church began, Martinsburg’s Stake High Council – whose members included Grow, Fishel and Jensen’s parents -held a meeting, during which the alleged sexual abuse of two children by Jensen was allegedly discussed, a copy of the suit reads.

The council allegedly failed to report the allegations of abuse to authorities, as required by law, and Fishel denied the allegations as hearsay. Jensen’s parents allegedly learned that their son was sexually abusing at least one child sometime between 2006 and 2007.

After learning of the abuse, Jensen’s parents allegedly banished him from the family home and made him sleep in the backyard but, at the time, allegedly encouraged church families to use their son as a babysitter, the suit reads.

In early 2008, one of the victims suing the church, a 4-year-old boy, told Jensen’s mother that Jensen had sexually abused him. In 2008, Fishel, who was also allegedly already put on notice that Jensen had been accused of sexually abusing children, was told by the mother of another alleged victim that Jensen had abused her younger son.

The suit alleges that instead of reporting the abuse to authorities or taking action to warn or protect other children, the church, through its agents, took the opposite approach. The suit accuses the church and church leaders of actively covering up the abuse and assisting Jensen in committing further acts by enabling him to babysit for and live with other church families with young children. The pattern allegedly continued for more than five years until Jensen was indicted in 2012 in Berkeley County.

The suit says the church has not accepted responsibility for what it allegedly did or failed to do, despite allegedly being confronted with information about the alleged abuse on several occasions.

The suit also alleges that the church has continued its cover up, sending emissaries from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Martinsburg to instruct witnesses not to talk with attorneys representing the children suing the church.

In addition, the suit alleges that the church, through its leaders, has tried to intimidate the families of the children suing the church and has allegedly directed fellow church members to try to convince them to abandon their claims “lest they run afoul of church teachings regarding forgiveness,” a copy of the suit reads.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified punitive and compensatory damages. The Mormon Church receives $5 billion to $7 billion per year in tithing from members and Time magazine estimated in 2001 that the Mormon Church owned financial assets and real estate in excess of $120 billion, according to the suit.

“Punitive damages, in addition to compensatory damages, are not only warranted in these circumstances, but also are necessary to send a message to this institution and its agents that abusing young children is not acceptable, that compliance with secular laws requiring that sex abuse be reported to the authorities is mandatory and that the church’s self-interest cannot be elevated over the needs of young children,” a copy of the suit reads.

On Aug. 18, the Martinsburg Stake High Council excommunicated Jensen from the church.

-Staff writer Edward Marshall can be reached at 304-263-8931, ext. 182.”

FOR FURTHER READING:

Read the lawsuit here: 2013-10-24 — Jane Doe-1 et al v LDS, Berkeley County, West Virginia, Civil Action Number 13-C-656

http://journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/600380/Lawsuit-filed-against-church-for-coverup-of-sex-abuse.html

UPDATE: California’s Senate Bill 131 Still Awaiting Signature

UPDATE: California’s Senate Bill 131 is still on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk awaiting signature. SB 131 faces strong opposition. Supporters, as well as critics, are making their opinions known to the governor. We’ll know by Oct. 11th – 30 calendar days from when the governor received the bill – if it becomes law.

Governor Brown has three options for SB 131: Veto the bill, sign it or let it become law without signing it.

SB 131 gives sexual-abuse survivors a one-year window of opportunity to file a civil suit previously time-barred by statute of limitations. Victims could file a case against their abuser or their abuser’s employer. The window to file such cases would be open from 2014-2015.

Stand up for sex-abuse victims in California. Call Gov. Brown’s office at: 916-445-2841 or email him via the governor’s website at:  http://govnews.ca.gov/gov39mail/mail.php.

California Set to Vote on ‘Window Legislation,’ Giving Abuse Survivors One Year to File Civil Lawsuits

By Martha Modeen

We’re keeping our eye on legislation in California.

Victims of childhood sexual abuse in California could have one more year to file civil lawsuits against alleged abusers under a bill that passed a key legislative committee this week. SB131 now heads to the full Assembly for a vote.

“Due to the nature of sex-abuse injuries, survivors often never come forward,” said Dan Fasy, partner at Kosnoff Fasy. “This legislation, if successful, will give victims in California one more shot at justice.”

Tim Kosnoff, partner at Kosnoff Fasy, agreed.

“This is an important development, and it’s gratifying to see,” Kosnoff said. “We’re seeing significant progress across the country benefiting abuse survivors.

The arc of history favors the just cause.”

This week’s successful vote comes one week after it failed in committee. SB 131 fell three votes short in the Assembly Appropriations Committee last week after six Democrats did not vote. California State Sen. Jim Beall (D-San Jose) asked for reconsideration and, the bill passed on Wednesday, Aug. 21 on an 11-3 vote, with three members not voting. SB 131 is now headed to the full Assembly for a floor vote.

For further reading:

http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/08/from-failed-to-pass-assembly-committee-revives-sex-abuse-bill.html

http://www.pe.com/local-news/politics/jim-miller-headlines/20130821-legislature-sex-abuse-survivor-bill-advances-on-second-attempt.ece

Minnesota is the latest state to change its laws, giving childhood sexual-abuse victims a better chance for justice

By DAN FASY

It’s been happening around the country, most recently in Minnesota. States are revising statutes of limitation for civil cases, providing abuse survivors more options to pursue cases previously barred. Last month, the Minnesota state Senate passed a bill – as did the House – affirming that the opportunities for bringing civil cases involving child sexual abuse must be expanded. Gov. Mark Dayton signed the bill into law May 24th.

The Minnesota Senate event was attended by a man named Joel Juers, an adult who was victimized as a child by a pedophile. He told reporters after the Senate vote:

“It was a powerful moment. There were so many positive emotions that I couldn’t even cry.”

The Minnesota new law is known as The Child Victims Act. When it became law, it altered, expanded, and in some cases eliminated a statute of limitations for civil suits charging child sexual abuse. This means that victims who were sexually abused when they were younger than 18 years old may commence a lawsuit for damages arising from the abuse at any time, regardless of how long ago the abuse occurred. Defendants in future cases, of course, likely will include church institutions and other well-known organizations.

The legislation also provides a three-year period, during which victims whose claims would have been time barred by the previous statute of limitations, to bring civil suits against alleged abusers.

We at Kosnoff Fasy have represented hundreds of victims of alleged child sexual abuse in cases involving the Catholic and Mormon churches and the Boy Scouts of America. And we will continue to take cases arising in Minnesota.

As for Joel Juers: He has become a name and face for the refusal to succumb to the challenges he has faced. The following excerpts are from a recent story by Rebecca Rodenborg in the Faribault (Minnesota) Daily News:

“The man previously only identified as ‘Joel’ in a story about alleged sex abuse at Shattuck-St. Mary’s in 1980 has now found a reason to come forward more publicly.“

Joel Juers was just 14 years old when he says he was sexually abused by now former . . . teacher Joseph Machlitt. He didn’t tell police until last fall, when he said he realized Machlitt was recently employed as a tutor for Hispanic students in Edina.

Now at the age of 47, Juers has no chance for justice against his alleged abuser. Criminal charges were dropped because the statute of limitations had expired.

“… Called the Minnesota Child Victims Act, [the legislation] would allow anyone who was sexually abused as a child to bring a civil lawsuit at any time against his or her abuser or the institution that facilitated the abuse — no matter how long ago it occurred.“

Advocates like Juers say the new law would encourage victims of child sex abuse to come forward and potentially identify abusers who have never been caught and are still abusing children.

Jeff Dion, deputy executive director of the National Center for Victims of Crime, offered this perspective:

“Pedophiles don’t retire. Even when it’s 30 years after the abuse, the perpetrator is still alive. Maybe they’re in a walker or a wheelchair, but they may still be molesting kids.”

And, we would add, even if they aren’t any longer sexually molesting children, they still must be brought into court and face justice in civil cases. Contact us at Kosnoff Fasy if you agree.

Our attorneys are highly experienced in child sexual abuse law and offer free initial consultations to potential clients. We are also willing to assist other attorneys in sexual abuse cases. Please call 206-257-3590, or email us directly. Conversations will be kept confidential, and even if you are unsure about a lawsuit, often we can direct you to the assistance you need. You will be treated with compassion and respect.

Toll free: 855-529-4274
Tim Kosnoff, direct: 425-837-9690
Dan Fasy, direct: 206-462-4338
Kara Tredway, direct: 206-453-0579
Kosnoff Fasy, Seattle office: 206-257-3590

Minnesota Senate OKs Bill Easing Lawsuits for Child Sexual Abuse

Change in Minnesota Law would:

Drop the statute of limitations for civil suits involving child sexual abuse going forward.

For older cases, it would create a three-year window for past victims to file lawsuits against abusers and institutions that may have failed to protect them

Posted on May 10, 2013

“This is a huge development. Other states likely will follow.”Tim Kosnoff
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/05/08/politics/senate-passes-bill-easing-lawsuits-for-child-sexual-abuse

Our attorneys are highly experienced in child sexual abuse law and offer free initial consultations to potential clients. We are also willing to assist other attorneys in sexual abuse cases. Please call 206-257-3590, or email us directly. Conversations will be kept confidential, and even if you are unsure about a lawsuit, often we can direct you to the assistance you need. You will be treated with compassion and respect.

Toll free: 855-529-4274
Tim Kosnoff, direct: 425-837-9690
Dan Fasy, direct: 206-462-4338
Kara Tredway, direct: 206-453-0579
Kosnoff Fasy, Seattle office: 206-257-3590

Alleged Abuse by Hawaiian Priest Has a Familiar Ring to It

By TIM KOSNOFF

Cops know it as “M.O.” In Latin it’s “modus operandi” and in English it’s “mode” or “method” of operation.

In matters of child sexual abuse, the M.O. is often eerily the same. Such, according to recent allegations, was the case pertaining to Father George DeCosta, a priest in Hawaii. DeCostsa is listed in a database of priests publicly accused of childhood sexual abuse in Hawaii, as tracked by BishopAccountability.org. http://www.bishop-accountability.org/
The temptation is to use the cliché, “Stop us if you’ve heard this one.” At our law firm we’ve heard the familiar sounding account many times, and the details are as predictable as recurring bad dreams.

The following is from the Aug. 22, 2012, Hawaii Tribune Herald:
The child sex abuse scandal surrounding the Catholic Church has hit close to home, with fingers of accusation pointing at a priest revered in the local community.

Father George DeCosta, who for almost three decades was the parish priest at Malia Puka O Kalani Catholic Church in Keaukaha, has been accused of abuse by two Hawaii men. The two were students at Damien Memorial High School in the 1960s when DeCosta was the chaplain there. [One of the men] was a sophomore at Damien in 1968. …

The [victim] states that DeCosta provided him with alcohol, ‘insisted they go swimming’ and ‘forced’ him into skinny dipping. He wrote that he became ‘incapacitated’ and when he awoke DeCosta was ‘masturbating’ him and ‘fondling his testicles.

The victim went on to describe physical, emotional and psychological injuries due to the sexual abuse by DeCosta, including, but not limited to: dreams, nightmares and flashbacks. The 74-year-old DeCosta, denied the allegations. DeCosta retired from Malia Puka O Kalani in 2002 and is living in Volcano.

So here it is yet again: the familiar sequence. A trusted Catholic Church official is alleged to have been a pedophile. An alleged victim comes forward and gives vivid details of child sexual abuse, a modus operandi familiar to those of us who deal with such cases. Then the alleged perpetrator denies the charges and, until the claims are adjudicated, the accused — his reputation tarnished, if not ruined — nonetheless remains free.
There suddenly is one less priest “revered in the local community.”
And the victims? They’re left, here again, with shattered lives during seemingly every waking hour. Then, when they sleep, there are the predictable, recurring bad dreams. We’re here to help.

Our attorneys are highly experienced in childhood sexual abuse law and offer free initial consultations to potential clients. We are also willing to assist other attorneys in sexual abuse cases. Please call 206-257-3590, or email us directly. Conversations will be kept confidential, and even if you are unsure about a lawsuit, often we can direct you to the assistance you need. You will be treated with compassion and respect.

Toll free: 855-529-4274
Tim Kosnoff, direct: 425-837-9690
Dan Fasy, direct: 206-462-4338
Kara Tredway, direct: 206-453-0579
Kosnoff Fasy, Seattle office: 206-257-3590

Joliet, Illinois: How one abuse victim pushed for release of secret church files, and prevailed

By DAN FASY

It could’ve been a heart-breaking tale. Instead it’s eminently heartening, about a man wanting to do more than settle his case with Catholic Church officials who, for more than half a century, were the enablers and protectors of pedophile priests in and around Joliet, Illinois.

In a superb story (URL below) by three Chicago Tribune reporters, it’s recounted how David Rudofski stood up to the power of the Joliet Archdiocese. Rudofski was sexually abused the day of his first confession. In settling his case, Rudofski demanded that church officials make public what proved to be more than 7,000 documents detailing how pedophile priests were protected and child victims were ignored.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-03-21/news/chi-open-files-part-of-settlement-for-priest-sex-abuse-victim-20130320_1_joliet-diocese-abusive-priests-priests-with-substantiated-allegations
According to the Tribune article, church officials verified the claims of Rudofski, now a 38-year-old electrician. Part of the archdiocese’s offer to the abuse victim included a personal apology from a bishop and at least six times what Rudofski makes per year. This would have been in trade for the abuse victim limiting publicity.

Rudofski, however, according to the Tribune, wanted the diocese to pay in “a currency far more precious to the church than money. He demanded that the diocese settle its debt by turning over the secret archives it maintained on abusive priests and making them available for public consumption.”

“If people don’t know how this was allowed to happen for decades, they can’t prevent it from happening again,” Rudofski said.
The story details the importance of releasing pertinent information previously not made public. The reporters claim that “documents also raise new questions about whether the church has been forthcoming about the number of local priests involved in the scandal and the percentage of clergy confronted with credible claims.”

The story points to “the ineptitude and indifference that greeted the allegations almost since the religious district’s inception in 1948. The errors span more than six decades and involved three bishops, 91 places of worship and more than 100 victims.”

As an example of the entrenched indifference that continues to define church officials, the Tribune story notes that, reached at his home, retired Bishop Joseph Imesch, 81, said he didn’t want to discuss details of the revelations in the documents. He told the Tribune:
“‘I’m not going to rehash all of this. I know what I did; I know what I should have done,’ he said, expressing frustration with the way news reports portrayed his conduct.”

Other church officials responded to reporters’ queries by citing what they claim is statistical verification that pedophilia doesn’t occur among priests any more than it does among members of other professions.

David Rudofski has provided more than just a great service to other victims of child sexual abuse. He also has become a terrific role model who has the potential of emboldening many other victims to come forward and take on those responsible — officials who somehow believe an insincere apology from a retired bishop somehow makes it OK that the institution countenanced pedophiles’ crimes for six decades.

We at Kosnoff Fasy have welcomed as clients many victims similar to David Rudofski. Such victims deserve justice. Moreover, as Rudofski and others have shown, victims needn’t live in fear of pedophile-enabling organizations. We know that, in a court of law, the truth about child sexual abusers and their protectors will prevail.
We will advocate for you. Contact us at:855-LAW4-CSA, 855-529-4272.

Our attorneys are highly experienced in childhood sexual abuse law and offer free initial consultations to potential clients. We are also willing to assist other attorneys in sexual abuse cases. Please call 206-257-3590, or email us directly. Conversations will be kept confidential, and even if you are unsure about a lawsuit, often we can direct you to the assistance you need. You will be treated with compassion and respect.

Toll free: 855-529-4274
Tim Kosnoff, direct: 425-837-9690
Dan Fasy, direct: 206-462-4338

Kara Tredway, direct: 206-453-0579
Kosnoff Fasy, Seattle office: 206-257-3590

The Sad, But All Too Familiar Fact in Abuse Cases: Pedophiles are Often ‘Trusted,’ Well Known by Survivors and Relatives

By DAN FASY

A recent pair of links we posted on our Facebook page inadvertently demonstrate something of a range of ways the scourge of child sexual abuse is revealed to the public.

One is a news story about the aunt of an alleged victim discovering references to abuse incidents on her niece’s Facebook page. The allegations indicate that the predator is another member of the extended Indianapolis family.
If so, the case would jibe with several familiar patterns. One is the high likelihood that the pedophile would be well known by the victim — would, in fact, likely be a family member. Another is that the alleged victim waited, in this case about two years, before revealing what she remembers. Yet another is the implicit reluctance of the victim to more overtly come forward and charge the perpetrator.

One certainly can understand the reluctance. Imagine the feeling of powerlessness of, in this instance, a 13-year-old girl. She’s already been forced by circumstances to process what she claims are two cases of molestation. Then she has to summon the emotional wherewithal to come forward in some fashion and, in effect, let the world know what happened.
Obviously it requires the kind of courage no one should have to demonstrate.
Then there’s the related recent link on our Facebook page. Rather than being about average citizens with no claim to celebrity, it concerns a woman for whom celebrity has been a live-long given.
Her name is Anoushka Shankar. The last name belonged to her late father, Ravi, for half a century a name synonymous with sitar music. As it happens, Anoushka Shankar also is the half sister of singer Norah Jones, also Ravi Shankar’s daughter and a celebrity better known than any from the extended family.

Anoushka Shankar, herself an accomplished sitar-player and composer, is in the news precisely because of the familiarity of her name. She reported just a few days after attending the 2013 Grammy-award event in Los Angeles that she was repeatedly molested as a young girl by an apparent “family friend.”
The timing of her announcement, revealed in a video, has to do with her support of the One Billion Rising global movement for women’s rights.

In the video Shankar says: “As a child, I suffered sexual and emotional abuse for several years at the hands of a man my parents trusted implicitly. Growing up, like most women I know, I suffered various forms of groping, touching, verbal abuse and other things I didn’t know how to deal with. I didn’t know I could change.”

A Huffington Post story indicates that Shankar “has dedicated her ‘rising’ message to the 23-year-old Indian physiotherapy student who died after being brutally gang-raped by five men in New Delhi. ‘I’m rising with the amazing women of my country who are together calling and saying enough is enough. I’m rising for the child in me who I don’t think will ever fully recover from what happened to her.”
Shankar’s bold, selfless revelations bear at least one striking similarity to the Indianapolis story. In each case the accused perpetrator was known to — perhaps trusted by — the alleged victim.
What the two instances do not have in common may prove to be most notable. The fact is, the Shankar story no doubt will have far greater resonance with a much larger audience than that of an anonymous girl from Indiana. That the latter has been bold enough to reveal her story should be admirable to many. But the notion that a celebrity would tell a similar tale can’t help but make it at least incrementally easier for other heretofore reticent victims to reveal their own deeply guarded secrets.
In this way, we can at least hope that such victims, so emboldened, will help us bring to justice the myriad sex-abusers who otherwise will continue to prey on defenseless children.

Our attorneys are highly experienced in childhood sexual abuse law and offer free initial consultations to potential clients. We are also willing to assist other attorneys in sexual abuse cases. Please call 206-257-3590, or email us directly. Conversations will be kept confidential, and even if you are unsure about a lawsuit, often we can direct you to the assistance you need. You will be treated with compassion and respect.

Toll free: 855-529-4274
Tim Kosnoff, direct: 425-837-9690
Dan Fasy, direct: 206-462-4338
Kosnoff Fasy, Seattle office: 206-257-3590

Pennsylvania: Home to Two High-Profile Child Sexual-Abuse Scandals, Eyeing Change

By DAN FASY

Our Facebook page is updated weekdays to apprise interested parties about the many aspects pertaining to child sexual abuse. We cull reports from world media and provide links for readers. By its nature, the page can seem unremittingly grim.

Now and then, however, news comes along that at least seems to ameliorate the inevitable feelings of hopelessness about the fight against pedophilia. One such report is emerging from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. What better place, one would think, than a state that has been home relatively recently to a couple of the world’s most high-profile stories of child sexual abuse.

The following is from an article earlier this year in the Uniontown Herald-Standard:
“A group of state lawmakers who said they were frustrated that the Penn State/Jerry Sandusky and the [Philadelphia] Roman Catholic sex abuse scandals were not enough to move legislation out of committee last year, announced plans Wednesday [Jan. 23] to reintroduce a bill that would remove the statute of limitations in cases of child sexual abuse.
“Where the statute of limitations has expired, Democratic Reps. Mike McGeehan and Louise Bishop said another bill would open a two-year window that would allow victims of child sexual abuse to report their story to file civil lawsuits.
“‘It is time to put victims first,’ said Bishop, who said she was 12 when her stepfather began to sexually abuse her.
“‘I didn’t know how to handle it,” she said. “I knew if I told my mother, it would hurt her. I knew if I told my sisters and brothers I [would be] talking about their father and they wouldn’t like it and I would be even more isolated than I was. And if I told my grandfather, he would take his legal shotgun and would have blown his head off.”
Those of us who deal daily with the realities of pedophilia are eminently aware of the power sex-abusers have over young victims. One recent news report described how many pedophiles are turning toward abusing ever-younger children with hopes that the victims will lack the comprehension and wherewithal to inform adults about what has happened to them.
The two House bills in Pennsylvania would get rid of the statutes of limitation in criminal and civil child-sex-abuse cases and also would grant those whose S.O.L. periods have expired two more years to bring cases. While the proposed legislation amounts to favorable news to many, it’s well worth noting that similar bills died at the end of the state’s most recent legislative session.
Advocates speak of the S.O.L. bills (similar efforts have been successful in California and Delaware) as a means of confronting Pennsylvania’s Catholic hierarchy.
“Marci Hamilton,” the newspaper story explains, is “an attorney known for her expertise in church and state law and the author of a book on how the country can better protect children from predators. [She] said: ‘The only way the truth will come out is if this Legislature has the guts to look at the Catholic conference and say we want the truth and we’re not playing your game of secrecy anymore.’”
Another expert in Pennsylvania added that institutionalized cover-ups of pedophilia also have been attempted in such organizations as Jehovah’s Witnesses, Boy Scouts of America, Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Hassidic Jewish community.
But child advocates worry that the attempt at S.O.L. reform will once again languish in Pennsylvania. The frustration of advocates was caught particularly well by writer Tara Murtha in a Jan. 29 piece in Philadelphia Weekly when she quoted Jeff Dion of the National Center for Victims of crime:
“After all the grand jury reports, after Penn State, after the release of the Boy Scout secret files, after the criminal convictions of church officials who knew that they were not going enough to protect kids . . . what is PA waiting for?”
Pedophiles, he added, “know they don’t need to keep kids quiet forever. Just long enough.”

Our attorneys are highly experienced in childhood sexual abuse law and offer free initial consultations to potential clients. We are also willing to assist other attorneys in sexual abuse cases. Please call 206-257-3590, or email us directly. Conversations will be kept confidential, and even if you are unsure about a lawsuit, often we can direct you to the assistance you need. You will be treated with compassion and respect.

Toll free: 855-529-4274
Tim Kosnoff, direct: 425-837-9690
Dan Fasy, direct: 206-462-4338
Kosnoff Fasy, Seattle office: 206-257-3590

Revising the Statute of Limitations in New York and Other States is the Right Thing to Do

By DANIEL FASY

No one can say that Margaret M. Markey hasn’t tried.

The New York State assemblywoman has been laboring in vain since 2006 to change the way that the Empire State has remained maddeningly negligent in facing a pressing need, articulated last May by the Queens Borough Democrat

Last spring she wrote to constituents:

“I held a series of informational events in Albany earlier this year to bring to the attention of Governor [Andrew] Cuomo and my colleagues in the Legislature to the wide-ranging problem of child sexual abuse in society.

“We looked at the recent revelations in the world of sports and learned about abuse in schools and institutions. We heard one of the state’s leading prosecutors speak about how current statutes of limitations in New York State need to be changed in order to bring justice to victims.
“A panel of legal experts spoke about the change that is taking place across the nation where other states are facing up to the challenge of providing justice and punishing perpetrators and those who hide them. My Child Victims Act of New York seeks to update our laws regarding this crime.

“Our New York State statutes of limitations are so lax that many perpetrators evade exposure by waiting out the short statute of limitations. I want to change that because pedophiles who are not exposed will continue to abuse yet more children in the future.”

She then urged readers to sign an online petition to help speed the cause.

Fast forward to a Jan. 2, 2013 story in the New York Daily News. The piece is about how, in the wake of revelations about possible decades-long cover-ups of alleged pedophilia at a Brooklyn, New York, prep school, Markey is insisting that the statute of limitations be dropped altogether in New York rather than being merely expanded. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-team/poly-case-vicims-shouldn-limited-seeking-legal-action-article-1.1231848

The Daily News piece notes: “Current [New York] state law requires survivors of childhood sexual abuse to file a case by the time they are 23 years old. Previous versions of Markey’s Child Victims Act would have extended the deadline by five years.”

Making the deadline age 28 still would’ve been comparatively unfair. The fact is that a victim of pedophilia in Washington or Oregon has much longer to bring legal action than does a similar victim in New York, to say nothing of other states that provide relatively brief time periods before statutes of limitations expire.

It should be noted that the notion of “statute of limitations” usually is subject to what is called “tolling.” As a practical matter, tolling typically means that a victim’s statute “clock” time doesn’t start until after he or she reaches age 18. In New York, victims have just five years to seek justice for first-degree offenses. Other states like Washington and Oregon provide survivors more time to bring forward with a civil claim for sexual abuse.

Is New York the worst in this regard? Scarcely. The statutes in North Dakota and Tennessee provide victims reaching age 18 just one year to seek legal action. In Indiana and New Jersey it’s only two years.

Some would ask why these statute times are so important. I would ask them to remember what their lives were like when they were 18 years old, when much of the world was still very mysterious, when they were absorbed in issues relating to reaching adulthood, when peer pressure for so many reasons may have been at an apex in their lives.

Then, for those who have been fortunate not to have endured sex crimes when they were children, imagine what your frame of mind might have been if you had? Would you, at age 18, have had the emotional wherewithal much less the means and familial support to seek an attorney?

More likely, as we who deal with this know, it would have taken more time, more maturing before you would have become emboldened to bring such an abuse case to authorities.

And that, of course, is really all that Margaret Markey and those of us who support her are asking for: More time.

Our attorneys are highly experienced in childhood sexual abuse law and offer free initial consultations to potential clients. We are also willing to assist other attorneys in sexual abuse cases. Please call 206-257-3590, or email us directly. Conversations will be kept confidential, and even if you are unsure about a lawsuit, often we can direct you to the assistance you need. You will be treated with compassion and respect.

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