The Roman Catholic Church’s intense lobbying campaign against legislation making it easier for child sex abuse victims to sue churches and other private groups in Colorado appears to be making headway.
The bills’ Democratic backers are considering broadening their push to include holding public schools to the same standards.
At issue are three bills that would loosen or do away with civil and criminal statutes of limitation for child sex abuse.
One bill, which is scheduled to be heard at a high-stakes committee hearing Monday, would open a two-year window allowing victims of child sexual abuse to file lawsuits no matter how many decades ago the incidents took place.
The archdiocese wants either to kill the three bills or to broaden them to cover public schools, which are difficult to sue under the doctrine of sovereign immunity.
As part of that campaign, the archdiocese introduced records obtained under freedom of information requests that contain sexual abuse allegations leading to public school teachers’ licenses being revoked.
But even if the bills were broadened to incorporate schools, the archdiocese has not said it would support them. The church has only said it would “encourage that discussion.”
Negotiations are underway as lawmakers figure out how to also address the potential for sexual abuse in schools or elsewhere, said Rep. Terrance Carroll, D-Denver, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
An amendment taking care of the problem is not technically possible – lawmakers are not allowed to expand the scope of a bill beyond its title – but a new approach should be figured out soon, Carroll said.
“I think we’re getting pretty close to a solution on this,” he said. “I just can’t say what it is at this point.”
The turning tide caused advocates for sex abuse victims to work the Capitol hallways Friday. Among them was Tamika Payne, executive director Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault, who said she remained hopeful legislators would support the legislation as written.
“There is concern that there has been a lot of pressure from the Catholic Conference that this is about the church,” Payne said. “It’s deeply saddening because this is not an issue about the Catholic church or priests who’ve committed a crime. It’s about giving all kids the ability to seek justice once they get older. This is about all victims.”
Already, the Denver archdiocese is the target of more than two-dozen lawsuits involving two priests implicated in child sexual abuse. A heated legal argument is expected over whether the plaintiffs have the legal standing to sue decades after the fact.
The two chief lawyers representing two groups of accusers – Jeff Anderson of St. Paul, Minn., and Jeffrey Herman of Miami – said they rejected an offer from the archdiocese to enter into mediation discussions about an out-of-court settlement.
Anderson said it is too early to discuss settlement. He said first, he would seek depositions from church leaders, priests’ personnel files and attempt to get to the bottom of what the church knew when and whether undisclosed allegations exist.
Jeanette DeMelo, an archdiocese spokesman, confirmed the mediation offer, but said the church will not discuss court developments in the media.
Staff writer Jim Hughes contributed information to this report.
Staff writer Eric Gorski can be reached at 303-820-1698 or egorski@denverpost.com.
