Mass. House OKs stricter abuse laws
Measure to ease prosecutions
The state House of Representatives yesterday passed legislation prompted by the clergy sexual abuse scandal that would remove some restrictions on prosecuting abuse cases and would toughen restrictions on some convicted sex offenders.
The measure, headed to the Senate as early as Monday, goes partway toward addressing concerns raised by victim advocates, who have repeatedly objected to laws in many states, including Massachusetts, that preclude lawsuits and prosecutions stemming from abuse that took place decades ago.
House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi said the measure virtually eliminates the statute of limitations for the prosecution of child sexual abuse in Massachusetts.
The measure would change the state's statute of limitations for child sexual abuse cases, making it possible for prosecutors to bring charges 27 years after the victim first reports the episode, or 27 years after the victim turns 16. And prosecutors could bring charges in cases that occurred longer ago if there is independent evidence that corroborates the victim's allegations. (The 27-year period, which would replace a 15-year limit in the current law, was chosen as a compromise, but also is supposed to allow enough time for victims to reach adulthood and recognize that abuse is a prosecutable crime.)
``We felt we needed to protect children, and we needed to strengthen our laws to make sure that sexual predators are brought to justice and that there is an opportunity for a prosecution in these cases," DiMasi said. ``We've seen people who were molested when they were children, and some people virtually were getting away with it because their statute of limitations had run [out] and we weren't able to prosecute ."
Governor Mitt Romney wants to review all of the provisions of the bill before deciding whether to sign it, but he is generally supportive, said his spokesman, Eric Fehrnstrom.
Clergy abuse victim organizations had wanted the state to fully repeal the criminal statute of limitations -- an idea supported by the Senate but rejected by the House because of concern about the ability of alleged abusers to defend themselves after so much time had passed. Victims also wanted the state to eliminate a civil statute of limitations, which currently restricts some lawsuits by victims, but that idea has not gained traction in the Legislature.
``This is a good first step, but a lot more needs to be done," said Bonnie Gorman of Quincy, a co-chairperson of the Coalition to Reform Sex Abuse Laws in Massachusetts. ``It's leaving decisions to the district attorneys, which is exactly where they should be left. But we're very disappointed about the civil bill."
A lawyer for numerous clergy abuse victims agreed. ``Although the proposed law is not perfect, it is a building block which can be used as a foundation for eradicating the statute of limitations in criminal cases," said the lawyer, Mitchell Garabedian.
In addition to the change to the statute of limitations laws, the measure tightens several laws that govern the registration, classification, and monitoring of convicted sex offenders. The measure, if approved by the Senate and the governor, would increase the number of convicted sex offenders required to wear global positioning system devices after their release and would bar the most serious sex offenders from living in nursing homes.
The measure would also require lifetime parole for high-level sex offenders who fail to comply with a state law requiring them to register their place of residence.
And the measure would require the state, which currently faces a backlog that is causing it to release sex offenders from prison before classifying the severity of their offense, to classify offenders before releasing them.
Several of the provisions are important to victim advocates, who believe they will provide greater protection to the public.
``Look at what happened to my daughter and my granddaughter," said Annette Presti of Billerica, whose daughter and granddaughter were killed in their Woburn home in 2004, allegedly by a convicted sex offender. ``There were a lot of loopholes in a lot of sex offender laws, and we needed to strengthen them ."
One provision advocated by Presti, requiring sex offenders to register secondary addresses, was approved by the Legislature in June. The man accused of killing the Prestis, Michael J. Bizanowicz, had registered as a sex offender in Lowell, where he kept an apartment, but not in Woburn, where he was often with his girlfriend.
Civil libertarians are concerned about the proposed change in the statute of limitations.
``Swift punishment is better punishment," said Ann Lambert, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. ``Our concerns are fair trials for defendants -- that they are not tried for things that happened so long ago , [and] that it is not, as a practical matter, almost impossible to defend against."
But several law enforcement officials hailed the measure passed by the House.
``When you think about the clergy scandal, the fact that we didn't have the sex assault statute of limitations' extension kept us from doing further investigation and getting some prosecutions," said Boston police deputy superintendent Margot Hill.
The lobbyist for the Catholic bishops said the bishops support the measure. ``The bishops support any criminal statute of limitation changes that law enforcement felt they needed to keep perpetrators off the street," said Edward F. Saunders Jr., executive director of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference.
The House approved the measure in an informal session yesterday. The Senate plans to use a similar procedure to vote on the measure Monday, said Ann Dufresne, a spokeswoman for Senate President Robert E. Travaglini.
``Eliminating the statute of limitations on sex abuse crimes has been a priority of the senate for the past two years," Dufresne said. ``This compromise, in practice, will do just that for most of these horrendous assaults, and create a supportive legal atmosphere in which victims can face their attackers in court."
Michael Paulson
can be reached at
mpaulson@globe.com. 
