Currents News Staff
Sexual abuse survivors lined the hall outside the Pennsylvania State Senate. Some armed with candles and signs, others armed with words.
The survivors said they would read the grand jury report all day, detailing the abuse of 1000 catholic children at the hands of 300 priests and laypeople.
The report recommended among other things that the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse be eliminated and survivors with expired claims be given a two-year window to file civil suits.
A bill with both recommendations passed the House but the ‘window of justice’ was taken out of the Senate version because of concerns that there were different standards for public vs. private entities.
Representative Mark Rozzi of Berks County says as negotiations on the bill continue, he is hopeful with the right wording the ‘window of justice’ will make the final bill.
Survivors like Julianne Bortz hope so too. “It’s still like a bad dream that we have to be here doing this. They should have done the right thing by now,” Bortz said.