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In
this Advent season of hope, we have two hopeful signs
of progress to report in this edition of Focus.
1. After years of requests and demands from VOTF
Delmarva and survivor support organizations,
the Archdiocese of
Wilmington, Delaware has released the names of diocesan
priests accused of sexually abusing children. The bishop
has encouraged religious orders – the Norbertines
and Oblates of St. Francis de Sales – to do the same.
The list appears on the diocesan website at cdow.org.
2. The Pennsylvania legislature passed a landmark
bill strengthening sexual abuse laws which Governor
Rendell
signed on November 30. VOTF members were very influential
in getting this legislation passed. Some of the major
provisions of the bill are:
- Close a loophole in the mandatory-reporting law. Until
now, anyone designated a "mandatory reporter" of
child sex abuse was obliged to report abuse to civil authorities
only if a victim reported abuse directly to him or her.
- Make
it a criminal offense for a person to knowingly conceal
or facilitate sex abuse by a person whom
they employ or supervise.
- Extend
to age 50 the time by which a sex-abuse victim may
bring criminal charges against his
or her abuser.
The existing limit is age 30. The extension
applies only to
abuse after the bill becomes law, and does
not extend the time a victim can sue an abuser.
- Require
criminal-background checks for workers in foster,
adoptive and family day-care homes.
- Require
much more detail about sex offenders to be listed
in the "Megan's Law" database, including a physical
description of the offender and the make and license-plate
number of his car.
To learn how you can get more
involved in the Protecting our Children campaign, click
here.
Look for the next Vineyard edition to be sent on December
14.
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