Kansas state lawmakers are criticizing the Catholic church for its lack of support for legislation aimed at eliminating statues of limitations on sexual abuse crimes.
This follows a report released Friday by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation detailing thousands of alleged incidents of abuse carried out by 188 Catholic clergy members in Kansas.
Democratic state Sen. Cindy Holscher of Overland Park says she will introduce two bills aimed at changing the statute of limitations in such cases this week. She says she has support from some Republicans as well.
Holscher says that previous attempts to eliminate the statute of limitations for such crimes were not supported by the church.
“They came in neutral on the bill, " Holscher said. “You can't be neutral on something as vile as childhood sexual abuse. So again, that showed me that they are not committed to addressing this issue.”
According to the KBI, no charges have been filed against any of the 188 individuals identified in the report, mostly due to laws that limit how long authorities have to pursue these types of cases.
Holscher says limits like those do not allow enough time for victims to process these traumatic incidents.
“We know from survivors of sexual abuse and that type of trauma, that it can take years, even decades before an individual's ready to come forward.” said Holscher.
- Rebecca Randles, attorney at Randles, Mata & Brown, LLC
- Cindy Holscher, Kansas State Senator, District 8
