Conklin Introduces New Legislation in Response to Catholic Church Grand Jury Report

Less than two weeks after the release of a Pennsylvania grand jury’s report alleging decades of sexual abuse in 6 Roman Catholic Church dioceses, state Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Rush Township, has introduced new legislation to strengthen reporting requirements and penalties.

The grand jury’s report found that more than 300 priests abused more than 1,000 children over a period of 50 years in the dioceses of Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton. Previous grand jury reports have detailed allegations of sexual abuse in the Altoona-Johnstown and Philadelphia dioceses.

‘As children, we are taught by our families to respect our teachers and clergy. However, the individuals identified in the report took advantage of their position These were teachers and spiritual leaders. They utilized the positions given to them to sexually abuse young children,’ Conklin said on Monday at his State College office. “It is both heartbreaking and infuriating to know that rather than punish the victims’ abusers, the hierarchy of the church swept them aside to protect the sanctity of the church and the credibility of their abusers.”

Conklin, who is Democratic chair of the House Children and Youth Committee, outlined two pieces of legislation he said, ‘will prevent similar situations from arising, punishing those who willfully fail to report sexual abuse and conspire to cover up.’

The first is related to reporting requirements. Acting on the grand jury’s recommendation, the bill clarifies that the abuse to does not need to be ‘active’ for a mandated reporter to be required to inform authorities — those individuals would also be required to report past instances of alleged abuse when they become aware of them.

It also would increase penalties if a required individual does not report when he or she has reason to believe more than one victim is involved. As currently written, failure to report is in many cases a misdemeanor. Conklin’s proposal would make it a second- or third-degree felony, depending on the nature of the abuse, if the mandated reporter knows or has reasonable cause to believe there is more than one victim.

‘When you look at what happened, the individuals who did this are not individuals who did it one time and it wasn’t that no one in the organization knew,’ Conklin said. ‘These individuals were known by the organization they worked for and were sent other places.’

The second piece of legislation would make employees and volunteers of religious organizations explicitly subject to a criminal offense of institutional sexual assault if they engage in sexual intercourse, deviate intercourse or indecent contact with a child. While not specifically exempt, religious organizations are not directly named in the current statute for institutional sexual assault.

‘My legislation is not intended to punish the Catholic Church or any other religious organization,’ Conklin said. ‘My intent is to ensure that all children – regardless of creed – are safe from perpetrators who would violate the sanctity of a place of worship to fulfill their heinous desires.’

Religious leaders he has heard from so far are supportive of the legislation, Conklin said.

Conklin’s bills are the latest to emerge in the General Assembly since the grand jury’s report. Legislation that has been previously proposed and which now may come to a vote in the fall would eliminate the statute of limitations for criminal charges in sexual abuse cases and would allow victims to pursue civil lawsuits until the age of 50.

Rep. Mark Rozzi also has proposed a two-year window for victims, regardless of when the abuse occurred to bring civil suits.

Conklin said he is supportive of those proposals. He added that he expects his proposed legislation will be brought to a vote this fall.

‘This isn’t about religion and this isn’t about the church,’ Conklin said. ‘This is about predators who found an easy way to use their power to violate our children.

“While I know I cannot fix the many wrongs perpetrated by the individuals identified in the grand jury report, we can prevent similar situations from arising by punishing those who willfully fail to report sexual abuse and conspire to cover it up.’