Pa. Senate fails to act to help victims of abuse

The process now must start again in a new session, when new faces will be in both the Senate and House.

One of the things state Sen. Tom McGarrigle pledged to do when the Senate convenes for its first session of the new year in Harrisburg was reintroduce legislation that would give victims of decades-old sexual abuse their day in court.

Now he’s not going to get that chance.

McGarrigle, R-26, lost his re-election battle to Tim Kearney, the Democratic mayor of Swarthmore.

McGarrigle was part of a coalition of suburban Philadelphia legislators who supported a bill that would open a two-year window for victims of childhood sexual abuse – cases where the statute of limitations has long since expired – to bring civil suits against their tormentors. It comes on the heels of another grand jury report detailing the horrific cases of hundreds of Catholic priests who abused more than a thousand children for decades.

In addition to opening that two-year window, the measure would have eliminated the statute of limitations for criminal charges in child abuse cases and greatly expanded the window for filing civil litigation. But both of those key changes would have applied only to future cases.

The Senate actually was back in town for one session last week, but the bill to create the window was never brought up. Instead legislative leaders busied themselves with ceremonial work and electing caucus leaders.

It’s not that they weren’t reminded of the push to help victims of childhood sexual abuse, an issue that has roiled the Legislature for months.

Standing a lonely vigil in a hallway Capitol was Cindy Leech of Johnstown. She was toting a poster with a picture of her son, emblazoned with the following words: “Our Loss Has No Statute of Limitations.”

Her son was a victim of sexual abuse. The issue dogged him through his life and led to drug abuse that eventually took his life.

“Just because they decided not to vote, we’re not going away,” Leech said. “We’re going to show them that we’re bound and determined.”

Senate leaders seem just as bound and determined not to take up the issue. Republican Senate Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati opposes the measure, claiming it is unconstitutional.

All of this is part of the fallout from the latest state grand jury report, released in August by Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

The grand jury reported more than 300 priests abused more than 1,000 children in six Pennsylvania dioceses for decades. It echoed similar findings reported by previous grand juries that probed priest abuse issues in the Philadelphia and Altoona-Johnstown dioceses. Even worse, it found the same pattern of secrets, cover-ups and shuffling of problem priests by bishops who clearly were more interested in protecting the church than innocent children.

The grand jury recommended opening the two-year window for victims to sue.

Shapiro and victim advocates criticized the plan for church officials to set up a compensation fund.

But that is exactly what is happening. Last week the Archdiocese of Philadelphia sent letters to nearly 350 “credible” victims of abuse inviting them to take part in the compensation program.

Several other Pennsylvania archdioceses indicated they would begin setting up similar programs.

There is no cap on possible awards, but in order to be eligible, victims must sign a waiver giving up the rights to take any other action against the church.

Last week Scarnati would not say what if any action the new Senate will take when it reconvenes in the new year.

“Look, I’m not going to draw any hard lines in the sand in an issue that’s months away,” Scarnati said.

Advocates and their supporters have been pushing this boulder up a hill for years.

But inaction by the Senate means it just rolled all the way back to the bottom of the hill again.

The process now must start all over in a new session. There are new faces in both the Senate and House. Some supporters of the measure, such as McGarrigle, will no longer be there.

But at least one familiar face will be.

Cindy Leech and hundreds of victims of childhood abuse will be back. They aren’t going anywhere.