Reilly supports change in sex crimes law By Associated Press Monday, March 7, 2005
BOSTON -- Attorney General Tom Reilly said he will support legislation to eliminate the 15-year statute of limitations for sex-abuse crimes against children.
"A predator of a child should never be out of the reach of the law," Reilly said Saturday in an interview. "If a prosecutor can make a case, and there are victims who are willing and able to make that case, the law should not stand in their way."
The recent trial of former priest Paul Shanley was a factor for Reilly, who described the prosecution of Shanley as "a very important case."
Reilly met with the victim in that case, and on the day of Shanley's sentencing to 12 to 15 years in prison, the courtroom was filled with alleged Shanley victims who said they couldn't press charges because of the statute of limitations.
"When someone is brave enough to come forward and testify and confront their abuser, they should not be prevented because of any technicality in the law," Reilly said.
In Shanley's case, the then-priest left the state in 1990, stopping the clock on the statute of limitations. After his arrest in 2002, his case became a public example of the problems of prosecuting sexual abusers in cases dating back decades.
In 2003, after Reilly's office delivered a report that found clergy may have abused up to 1,000 children over the last 60 years, Reilly said he supported tougher penalties for priests and others who didn't report abuse. He expressed some reservations about eliminating the statute of limitations.
Reilly's announcement that he now supports that idea could give new life to legislation that has foundered in the Legislature despite lobbying from legal advocates and alleged victims. Reilly said he would support the basic outlines of legislation from Rep. Ronald Mariano, D-Quincy.
That legislation would eliminate the 15-year cap for persons who commit rape, assault of a child with intent to commit rape, incest, open and gross lewdness and other crimes.
Advocates for scrapping the cap praised Reilly on Saturday.
"There is no single more effective reform that will prevent future abuse. With the limit, as it stands, abusers and those who shield abusers have an incentive to destroy evidence, and intimidate witnesses, and threaten victims, simply to let the clock run out on these horrific crimes," said David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
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