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Lawmakers seek to end limits on church liability

Abuse cases are targeted By Frank Phillips, Globe Staff | January 4, 2006

(Correction: Because of a reporting error, a Page One story in yesterday's Globe about pending legislation affecting the Catholic Church misstated Governor Mitt Romney's position on a bill that would force the Archdiocese of Boston and other religious organizations to file public financial disclosure reports with the state attorney general. In August, Romney stopped short of endorsing the bill, but called it a ''very important area of inquiry.")

Support is growing on Beacon Hill for legislation to lift charitable immunity protections for the Catholic Church and other nonprofit organizations in sexual abuse cases involving minors.

More than 60 lawmakers have signed onto a bill that, in civil cases involving such abuse, would eliminate the current $20,000 limit on liability for churches and other nonprofit organizations. That charitable immunity limit, supporters say, has discouraged sexual abuse victims from coming forward and has sharply limited payments in other cases.

Two other bills would restructure the complicated laws governing the statute of limitations in criminal and civil cases involving sex crimes against juveniles. Current laws lay out various limitations based on the number of years that elapse after a sexual crime is allegedly committed.

The House is also slated this month to take up a fourth bill, sponsored by Senator Marian Walsh, a West Roxbury Democrat, that would force the Archdiocese of Boston and other religious organizations to file public financial disclosure reports with the attorney general's office. In November, the Senate approved the measure, which is strongly opposed by several religious and nonprofit organizations. Governor Mitt Romney has expressed his support.

The bills highlight the increasing willingness of the state's politicians to take on the politically powerful Catholic Church, as it attempts to settle dozens of abuse cases and improve its financial situation.

''The Legislature is responding to the public," Walsh said of the pending legislation. ''They don't see the institutions policing themselves, and we have the opportunity to set things right. Rank-and-file citizens are offering the leadership. They are the ones stepping forward."

Massachusetts is one of a handful of states that place limits on how much money nonprofits have to pay for harm caused by negligence. Last month, New Jersey's General Assembly voted to repeal charitable immunity for churches and other nonprofits in sexual abuse cases.

The Bay State's $20,000 limit for nonprofits affects many kinds of negligence; the proposed change would involve only cases involving sexual abuse of a minor. The bill says, in part, that the charitable immunity ''shall not apply if the claim is for intentional or negligent conduct which caused or contributed to the sexual abuse of a minor."

But, the legislative road for the bills dealing with the statute of limitations and charitable immunity will be rough. Representative Eugene L. O'Flaherty, a Chelsea Democrat who is the House chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, expressed some concerns about the statute of limitations bill and indicated that his committee has other priorities, including toughening up some current sex-offender laws.

''I have some strong reservations about changing statutes of limitations," said O'Flaherty, a defense lawyer. ''I think they serve a very strong public purpose. Sometimes the rationale behind them is not necessarily appealing, but they do play a very important role in our judicial systems. We have to be deferential to the statute of limitations and very cautious when dealing with proposals to change them."

The Massachusetts Catholic Conference, the public policy office of the Catholic Church's four dioceses in Massachusetts, opposes the bills, but expressed particular concern about changing the statute of limitations for sexual abuse involving children.

''The position for the church is that it is opposed to any legislation that crosses the lines of separation of church and state," said Edward Saunders, the conference's executive director. He said the organization opposes elimination of the statute of limitations for sex abuse because ''as time goes by there is a weakening of testimony and evidence."

''The Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of Massachusetts recognizes there is a separation of government and religions, and anything that weakens that we would be opposed to," Saunders said.

After languishing for several years, the bills are gaining support as public ire continues to grow over church closings and the sexual abuse crisis. Advocates and lawyers for alleged victims have lined up sponsors behind the proposed changes in charitable immunity and the statute of limitations, including Massachusetts Citizens for Children.

Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, who initially expressed strong reservations about the statute of limitations bill, now backs it. He has not taken a position on the charitable immunity bill, a spokesman said.

Those pushing the legislative changes say they hope to force a showdown vote that they are sure they can win on the House and Senate floors, particularly as the archdiocese continues to face criticism over its policies and actions in dealing with the sex abuse scandal and the church's fiscal problems.

''The church keeps shooting itself in its foot, but the debate is broader than just the church," said Representative Ronald Mariano, a Quincy Democrat and one of the lead sponsors of the bills.

Mariano argued that young victims of sexual abuse rarely come forward at the time the crime occurs, often delaying for years coming to grips with what happened and being willing to face molesters.

''I keep trying make the point that it is more about the victims than the church," Mariano said. ''People come to grips with what happens at different stages of their life."

Certain nonprofit hospitals have protections under the charitable immunity limitation. However, the Massachusetts Hospital Association said yesterday that it would not oppose the bill to lift the charitable immunity exemption for sexual abuse claims against charities.

''The hospitals are strongly supportive of the charitable immunity cap," said Michal Regunberg, a spokeswoman for the hospital association. ''But on the initial reading of this act, we would not oppose it. We believe this is consistent with the mission of hospitals."

The bills are getting renewed attention on Beacon Hill as negotiations over a new set of sexual abuse victims have become public. The Globe reported last week that the archdiocese has offered $7.5 million to about 100 alleged victims of sexual abuse.

Yesterday, attorneys representing the alleged victims held a press conference to denounce the offer. Nearly 20 lawyers plan to form a steering committee that will serve as a united body in settlement discussions with the archdiocese.

Changes Sought in Massachusetts Sex Abuse Laws

By Kathleen A. Shaw TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
kshaw@telegram.com January 17, 2006

WORCESTER— Eunice White, a lifelong Catholic who said her religious faith means everything to her, believes she could have been an asset to the Roman Catholic Church but instead has been cast in the role of being a “thorn in the side of the church.”

As the mother of a man who alleges he was sexually abused by a priest of the Worcester diocese, she has begun to take center stage in the battle to reform laws in Massachusetts, reforms aimed at making it easier to prosecute those who sexually abuse minors.

Mrs. White and others in Central Massachusetts have joined a statewide coalition to support legislative measures to drop the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse so that victims can bring criminal charges many years after the alleged incidents, to drop the $20,000 charitable immunity cap in cases of sexual abuse of children so that the victims can get bigger settlements in lawsuits, and to make religious organizations responsible for filing public financial accountings with the state, as is required of other nonprofit groups.

She and others in Massachusetts working to change the laws on sexual abuse of minors got a boost last week when Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton of Detroit told a legislative session in Ohio that he also was abused by a priest when he was 15 and that he favors changes in the laws of several states dealing with sexual abuse of minors.

He said he knows firsthand the difficulty a person encounters in revealing abuse by clergy because he also kept his abuse secret for years and only was revealing it now at age 75. He is the first American bishop to disclose that he was abused by a priest. He also is concerned that the lingering scandal is undermining the efforts of Catholics to carry out the social justice mission of the church.

Susan Renehan of Southbridge, co-director of the Coalition to Reform Sex Abuse Laws in Massachusetts, said the group hopes to get Bishop Gumbleton to come to Massachusetts and speak on the issues.

Mrs. White, a Worcester resident, appeared at a rally last week at the Statehouse in Boston and spoke at length on two matters: the need to change the statute of limitations for sexual abuse crimes against minors and to require that religious organizations make public disclosure of finances.

Her son, who is listed in court documents as John Doe, has a civil lawsuit pending against the Diocese of Worcester alleging that he was sexually abused during the 1970s by the Rev. Raymond Messier, who has been on leave from the diocese since the suit was filed.

“It’s got to stop. Someone has to step up to the plate,” Mrs. White said in an interview Friday. She said she was pleased to see 200 to 300 people attend the Statehouse rally but was disappointed that the event did not draw much media coverage.

“Massachusetts should be in the forefront of reforming laws, but we are among the last to change the laws against pedophiles. My concern is not just priests and clergy abuse to children, but any pedophiles,” she said. “These proposed changes in the law will not help my son, but it will help someone else’s child,” she said.

A number of Central Massachusetts legislators are supporting changes in the laws. Area co-sponsors of a bill to alter the statute of limitations on sexual abuse allegations include state Reps. Mark J. Carron, D-Southbridge, Lewis G. Evangelidis, R-Holden, John P. Fresolo, D-Worcester, Robert P. Spellane, D-Worcester, and state Sens. Stephen M. Brewer, D-Barre and Richard T. Moore, D-Uxbridge.

Mr. Fresolo said on Friday that he supports the reform legislation and wants to eliminate the statute of limitation on the crime of sexual abuse of a minor in both civil and criminal proceedings. Mr. Fresolo, a Catholic, said, “I think it is imperative to allow young sexual abuse victims time to come to terms with the assault on them before having to go through the ordeal of dealing with law enforcement, the legal system and their attacker,” he said.

Mr. Fresolo said he was told one lawyer involved with victims of clergy sexual abuse said the average age of abuse for his 40 clients was age 12, while most did not report the abuse until they were past age 40.

Mr. Fresolo added that he also supported the measure that would require religious organizations to make financial disclosures to the state, and he supports changes in the $20,000 charitable immunity cap that limits the amount of money that sexual abuse victims can collect from churches.

“The current cap on tort liability for charitable organizations is $20,000 for minor sex abuse cases. This bill would eliminate the cap relative to only those cases in which a nonprofit organization is negligent or reckless. Parents entrust their children to hundreds of nonprofits every day. It is that organization’s obligation to ensure each child is safe while under its care. This bill will ensure that organizations are thinking of the children first when dealing with accusations of sexual abuse,” Mr. Fresolo said.

Statutes of limitation serve a purpose in ensuring justice, he said, because memories fade and evidence is lost after years. He believes eliminating the statute of limitations in sexual abuse cases could open the door to false prosecution of innocent people.

Bishop Robert J. McManus has sent letters to parishes asking Catholics of the diocese to begin contacting their legislators to say they oppose bills that would mandate public financial disclosure. He said that legislation would require an audit of each parish and it could cost as much as $10,000 to $15,000 a year.

State Sen. Marian D. Walsh, D-Boston, who is sponsoring the financial disclosure law, said the audit would be required of the diocese and not individual parishes. The financial disclosure bill also is opposed by the Massachusetts Council of Churches and other religious groups. The Massachusetts Catholic Conference, the public policy and lobbying arm of the Massachusetts bishops, is opposed to all these changes, which they believe would undermine the constitutional separation of church and state.

Lawmaker pushes to end statute of limitations in sex abuse of minors

By Raphael Lewis, Globe Staff | August 4, 2005

Frustrated that the Legislature has yet to act in the wake of the clergy sexual abuse scandal, state Senator Steven A. Baddour and 10 Merrimac Valley residents launched an effort yesterday for a 2006 ballot referendum that would abolish the statute of limitations in criminal and civil cases involving sexual abuse of minors.

Baddour, a Methuen Democrat, said the abuse allegations that rocked the Catholic Church in 2002 demonstrated that current laws, which limit the time victims have to file criminal charges and civil claims, often allow pedophiles to escape accountability.

''They shouldn't be able to hide behind the statute of limitations," Baddour said. ''In the Catholic Church scandal, they scared these kids for decades."

State Representative Ronald Mariano, a Quincy Democrat, filed a similar bill in December 2003, but it went nowhere. It was filed again in December 2004 but has yet to get a hearing.

For the measure to appear on the ballot, backers must gather roughly 66,000 signatures this fall. If the Legislature doesn't approve it by May 2006, supporters would have to gather about 11,000 additional signatures for it to appear on the ballot that November.

Homicide is currently the only crime without a statute of limitations in Massachusetts. For most crimes, it is six years.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle expressed support yesterday for eliminating the statute of limitations in sexual abuse cases involving minors.

Eric Fehrnstrom, communications director for Governor Mitt Romney, said the governor supports lifting the statute of limitations. Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley, a Democratic candidate for attorney general, said such a move is warranted, even if it is largely symbolic.

''I think the Catholic Church was an aberration in that it was a perfect storm of multiple victims and people being precluded from bringing cases," Coakley said.

Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly refused to comment yesterday because his office has to certify the ballot initiative in the coming weeks. According to a 2003 report produced by his office, at least 237 priests and 13 other church employees were accused of molesting at least 789 minors in Massachusetts, going back six decades.

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