Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli
On March 14, 2019, the New Jersey Senate passed bill S477 to remove the state’s statute of limitations in cases of child sexual abuse. On March 25, 2019, the New Jersey State Assembly also passed the bill. The measure allows lawsuits to be filed against individuals and institutions, be they public, private, for-profit and non-profit, no matter how much time has passed. The effects of such a law will be far-reaching.
For more than a decade, the Church has been grappling with the scandal caused by the abuse of minors. The abuse of victims is horrifying. As bishop, I have met with victims and have seen the scars of those who have been abused by those given a sacred trust to protect them. The abuse of a minor in any institution or family inflicts untold pain on the person abused and others as well. The Catholic Church in the United States has faced the issue. And, if the truth be told, it has done more than anyone else in establishing programs to prevent child abuse and to inform the consciousness of ecclesial and societal institutions so that the warning signs which could lead to abuse are more readily detected.
Media focus on abuse by clergy has helped to foster vigilance and redress in the Church. But, it should not make people forget that child abuse is a serious problem much wider than Catholic clergy. Thomas Plante, a psychology professor at Santa Clara University has researched this issue. He has stated that “if people think that you’re more likely to get sexually violated by a priest than by a stepfather or soccer coach or a school teacher, then you’re just not paying attention to the data…Sex abuse of children is a common phenomenon wherever you look, but particularly during the last half of the 20th century.” (Catherine Carrera, “How the crisis of Catholic priests sexually abusing minors mirrors society at large,” North Jersey Record, Feb. 22, 2019).
Recent stories in the news make it clear that families and institutions, public and private, at every level, must squarely face the issue of the abuse of minors. The Church has faced the issue with great contrition and transparency. The safe environment program that the Church has put in place can well serve as a model elsewhere in society.
In June 2002, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops promulgated the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. The U.S. bishops unanimously committed the Church in the United States to provide a safe environment for all children and youth in church-sponsored activities. No idle promise. Today, in our Catholic schools, religious education programs, youth activities, parishes and other institutions, all individuals working with children must undergo criminal background checks, fingerprinting and safe environment training.
In the Diocese of Paterson, all clergy, employees and volunteers who have regular contact with children have background checks and are trained in child protection. For the period starting on March 3, 2003 through June 6, 2018, 238,251 children and 32,577 adults have been trained; and, there have been 31,595 background checks. The Diocese holds training sessions in our three counties and at various times so that they are accessible and convenient to everyone. On average, more than 180 people per month go through the three-hour training curriculum.
Not only have church leaders implemented an effective program for child protection, but the American bishops have engaged an outside investigative agency to regularly monitor and report on the proper implementation of the safe environment program in each diocese. With a zero tolerance policy for those credibly accused of child abuse and with a program for child protection to be followed strictly by every employee or volunteer working with children, the Church has established concrete protocols to address the problem of the sexual abuse of minors that affects all society.
The issue of the sexual abuse of minors is a societal problem that cuts across families, races and institutions, both public and private. It is not a crime that is confined to one sector of society. For this reason, if justice is to be maintained, any law dealing with child abuse must be applied equally to all.
In an ostensible move to bring justice to those accused of sexual abuse of a minor, many of our lawmakers in New Jersey have voted affirmatively for the removal of the statute of limitations. This is a momentous change in our legal system. In any fair system of law, judgment needs to be made on evidence and not on emotion. In a Jan. 5, 2012 editorial in the New Jersey Law Journal, legal experts argue in favor of keeping the statute of limitations. How can anyone reasonably prove that they did not do something 15, 20, 30 or 50 years ago? As years pass, memories fade; witnesses are gone; records are lost; and, the alleged perpetrator may have died.
The relentless passage of time casts a cloak of uncertainty over any judgment that is made long after an event is said to have occurred. For this reason, states adopt statutes of limitations to place a needed balance between prosecuting a criminal and protecting an innocent person who cannot defend himself or herself because of the time that has elapsed from the alleged crime.
The Diocese of Paterson has never used the statute of limitations as an excuse to avoid just compensation of a credible claim of sexual abuse of anyone by a church minister. The emotional, spiritual, and entire well-being of any victim is the first concern of this local church. Furthermore, $40 million of the $50 million paid in settlements by the five dioceses of New Jersey over the last 10 years has gone to victims whose cases fell beyond the statute of limitations.
The Catholic bishops of New Jersey are steadfastly committed to protecting children and to offering recourse and support to those who have been abused. For this reason, this past November, the bishops of all five New Jersey dioceses announced a Victims’ Compensation Program. It is being administered independently of the bishops.
The firm that will assess and judge claims for compensation has had proven experience in administering claims for such cases as the Penn State sexual abuse, the 9/11 attacks and aftermath, the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and the terrorist attacks against the Boston Marathon and the Orlando night club. The information on the way this program will work can be found at NJDiocesesIVCP.com.
This program is being offered as an alternative to litigation. It provides victims with a speedy and transparent process to resolve their claims with a significantly lower level of proof and corroboration than required in a court of law.
The removal of the statute of limitations does nothing to protect children. But it does allow schools and other public entities to be sued and ultimately brings an unreasonable and unbearable burden on taxpayers, school systems and municipalities as well as the Church. Factually, in those dioceses in the United States that have faced the removal of the statute of limitations or similar legislation, the results have been catastrophic. The archdioceses of Portland and Milwaukee, the dioceses of Tucson, Spokane, Davenport, San Diego, Fairbanks, Wilmington, Duluth, Ulm, Gallup, Helena and Santa Fe all have gone bankrupt. And, the result? The financial resources for the good work of the Church are drained. Programs no longer function. Parochial schools as well as the Church’s much needed social and charitable services to the poor no longer have the resources to continue.