Child-Sex Bill in Georgia Town Has Groups Showing Their True Colors: Catholic Church and Boy Scouts both oppose law that would allow victims to sue institutions that cover up abuse
New legislation which would extend both the statute of limitations and open windows for alleged victims of any age to sue not only the people they accuse of abuse, but also churches and other organizations that may have covered it up.
This is a marked difference in current sex abuse laws, which tend to hold the assailant as the only responsible party, allowing organizations to shirk responsibility for their younger member's wellbeing. The Catholic Church's sex abuse issues are well known, being that the church would play musical parishes, switching offending priests into new locations, and more often than not, new victims.
“Things are not real good in Vidalia, Georgia right now. Citizens are torn up,” said Kay Stafford, a church member and retired attorney who isn’t directly involved in the lawsuit but is bothered by what he sees as a culture of silence around child sexual abuse. “It ain’t going to be right until there’s justice.” {source}
Stakes are high and both the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta, and the Boy Scouts of America, oppose House Bill 605, known as the Hidden Predator Act.
I can't help but think that if either of those organizations knew about abuse and actively buried it, then absolutely, they'd be up in arms, because they know it's only a matter of time until crap hits the fan for them and their role, passive as it was in allowing children to be victimized on their watch. And I'm not talking about the assault itself-- this is a new victimization, of when a kid or parent reports to the organization what happened, and then have the ball dropped because "bad press" and "lawsuits" are things to be avoided by said organization. That kid not only gets traumatized by the assailant, but gets screwed over by those supposedly responsible for the actions of their employees. It's a whole new violation, of making sure that kid doesn't get closure.
The main fear is that the defense costs in court could be crippling. It's the legislater's hopes that is indeed the case; that hitting them in the wallet will result in those organizations taking a more pro-active, protective stance, instead of quietly brushing issues aside or enabling staff to offend in new areas.
HB605 goes up for a vote before the legislative session ends next week.