Gregory authors ‘window of justice’ bill

Proposal to amend the constitution would give sexual abuse victims time to sue

Fulfilling his campaign promise, Rep. Jim Gregory, R-Hollidays­burg, has authored a bill with Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-Berks, that would create a two-year period for individuals to sue perpetrators and institutions over child sexual abuse claims that would otherwise be barred by time limits.

Gregory introduced the proposal, which was referred to the House Judiciary Committee, on Wednesday.

The same provision passed the House last year but was stalled in the Senate. Rozzi has been trying to pass it for six years, and others have tried years before him.

The "window of justice" as it's come to be called by supporters, has been blocked because of questions about whether it violates the state constitution.

Avoiding false hope

Gregory and Rozzi want to avoid repeating the failure of last year, so they said the best path forward -- although it takes longer -- is to amend the constitution.

"It is important for the victims of child sexual abuse to not be given false hope," Gregory said Thursday. "The legislative process previously put victims in that position because of the constitutionality question, and doing a constitutional amendment is the best way to address their concerns."

When Rozzi's proposal for the window arose last year, Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati maintained that the retroactive provision violates the state constitution.

Other Republican legislators, including former representatives of Altoona and Blair County, also could not ignore the constitutional issue even though the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese has long been at the center of child abuse allegations.

Pennsylvania as a whole became the epicenter of the abuse crisis in August when a grand jury accused some 300 Catholic priests of abusing more than 1,000 children over seven decades in six dioceses. The Altoona-Johnstown and Phila­delphia dioceses were not included because they had undergone previous investigations.

Abuse reports grow

"I've lived in Blair County for 40 years; I've lived through the (Rev. Francis) Luddy trials, the horrific stories of diocesan sexual abuse. I've seen fresh stories on this regularly," Gregory said. "To be able to take this as an issue that is important to people of my district is giving me the opportunity to go to Harrisburg to make a difference."

When the window was proposed last year, it was attached as an amendment to a Senate bill that would have eliminated criminal statutes of limitations and many of the civil statutes moving forward. The original Senate bill also would have eliminated statutes protecting conspirators.

The prospective piece of the legislation keeps getting delayed, Rozzi said.

"That also weighs on me," he said. "That just can't happen anymore."

So two bills were proposed Wednesday by Gregory and Rozzi.

"Moving forward, House Bill 962 raises the cut-off age for victims to sue perpetrators from 30 to 55. And criminal statutes moving forward will be completely eliminated," Rozzi said.

Gregory's House Bill 963 addresses the window for victims for whom the statute of limitations to sue already has expired. It states: "an individual for whom a statutory limitations period has already expired, a period of two years from the time the law becomes effective to commence an action arising from childhood sexual abuse."

Nationwide, a handful of states -- including Calif­ornia, Minnesota, Delaware and Hawaii -- have created these "lookback windows" enabling victims to file civil lawsuits against institutions such as churches and youth groups that bore some responsibility for the abuse.

The proposal involving new victims could be enacted this year.

Amendment takes longer

However, amending the constitution requires the same measure pass in two consecutive legislative sessions before being placed on the ballot for voter approval.

Following that path, 2021 is the earliest it could be passed.

"I would rather wait three years than get nothing done for 10," Rozzi said, admitting the standard approach

hadn't worked.

"I've been working for years and gotten nowhere. I've been bullheaded. I've tried to ram through what I thought was good for victims at the time, but nothing ever came from it because of the constitutionality problems."

The longer process of changing the constitution, thereby taking that out of the argument against the two-year window, is the best path forward for victims, he said.

Gregory echoed Rozzi's sentiment.

"It is something we can hopefully get support from leadership of the caucuses and the entire legislative body," Gregory said. "But there is a process to this, and there are discussions taking place. … And we are hopefully going to hear from those individuals that they indeed see this as the right way to go and that they can be supportive."

Gregory especially em­pathizes with victims because of the sexual abuse he experienced himself while growing up in Latrobe.

"I've talked about it during my campaign. I was sexually abused at age 10 by two 13-year-old boys. I believe they were also likely abused," he said. "Through counseling in the past 10 years, I've learned its called peer sexual abuse. The reason I want to see this legislation happen isn't just for sake of victims' ability to get compensation. It's to give them the ability to come forward about it and talk about it. That is what has made it possible for me to do what I'm doing. I've lived with it for 36 years, and it came out by accident. But I believe it came out for a reason when it did."

Outlet for victims

Gregory said he hopes the legislation provides an outlet for victims so that the trauma they carry inside doesn't become something that ends up indirectly affecting their families as well.

Rozzi has also been open with his story of being abused by a priest at age 13. Rozzi said Thursday that when Gregory was elected, he wanted to work with him on the statute of limitations changes.

House Judiciary Com­mittee leaders expect the bills to pass through the House the week of April 8.

Rob Kauffman, R-Chambersburg and majority chairman of the committee, said "Rozzi invested a lot of time and Gregory jumped in and is very interested in working together. It's a great partnership. I am very confident we can get a good product and move it through the House very rapidly."

He said nothing is set in stone, but he is confident that the Senate will support the House's product.

"We feel as though we have a breakthrough with these two bills, with the issue in general and the legislative stakeholders wanting to come to a consensus on how to work these issues through in an expeditious fashion," Kauffman said. "Obviously, the Senate will do their due diligence, but on the House's side, we feel optimistic we will have a good product to reveal. This entire process is about the victims, not us. We are trying to have a compassionate resolution for them."

Mirror Staff Writer Russ O'Reilly is at 946-7435.