Victims seek to end limits on sex abuse charges

Boston, Massachusetts --

David Carney remembers going to a cheap motel, drinking wine out of a Coke bottle and being raped by his high school chaplain. The next 23 years were filled with alcohol and drugs, a series of dead-end jobs and deep feelings of shame.

By the time Carney got sober three years ago, it was too late for him to seek criminal charges against the priest. The statute of limitations on the alleged crimes had run out. Like many other victims of sexual abuse, Carney gave up on the idea that the man who raped him would go to prison.

But now, some state lawmakers are hoping to change that for future victims. Spurred by the Roman Catholic clergy sex abuse scandal and the recent child rape conviction of defrocked priest Paul Shanley, a group of lawmakers is pushing legislation that would eliminate the statute of limitations on most sex crimes.

For people like Carney, the change would come too late. The legislation would not apply retroactively.

But victims and their advocates say the time limits need to be abolished to deal with the humiliation and embarrassment many victims of sex crimes feel, which can lead them to stay silent about their abuse for decades, Carney said.

Read the article at The Call dated 02/21/2005

Search the web for this article