BOSTON — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell says state laws continue to stand in the way of justice and accountability for survivors of child sexual abuse.
For years, 25 Investigates has been reporting on legislative efforts to better protect children from sexual predators. Earlier this year, Gov. Maura Healey signed a law closing the age-of-consent loophole preventing defendants from using a teenager’s age as a defense in certain child sexual abuse cases.
Now, advocates are pushing lawmakers to take another step by eliminating the statute of limitations that restricts when survivors can sue perpetrators and the institutions that enabled abuse.
They hope the investigative report, led by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office, into widespread child sexual abuse in the Worcester, Fall River and Springfield Catholic dioceses will add urgency to their push to eliminate the statute of limitations and expand opportunities for survivors to seek accountability through the courts.
Under current Massachusetts law, survivors generally must file civil lawsuits by age 53. Proposed legislation would eliminate that deadline and remove the state’s $20,000 charitable immunity cap, which limits liability for nonprofit organizations.
Child sexual abuse survivor Jim Scanlan, who was abused by a priest at Boston College High School in the 1970s, told 25 Investigates that the changes are necessary to ensure fairness for survivors and to encourage institutions to take stronger measures to prevent abuse.
“For me, it is fairness to survivors who didn’t have an opportunity, weren’t ready to come forward, and protecting our kids because it will change behavior. Monetary consequences change corporate institutional behavior,” Scanlan told Boston 25’s Kerry Kavanaugh.
The proposed amendment would also create a two-year look-back window for survivors whose claims previously expired under existing law.
Campbell, speaking shortly after publicly disclosing that she is also a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, said the look-back period should go even further and be made indefinite.
“This has happened across the country right now; Massachusetts, sorry, I’m just absolutely failing. We have the worst grade when it comes to this particular policy initiative; we have an opportunity today to change that,” Campbell said.
The amendment is currently attached to the state’s primary care bill, which is being debated by a conference committee on Beacon Hill. The committee’s deliberations are taking place behind closed doors as lawmakers decide whether the proposal will become law.
Advocates say they remain confident the amendment will pass intact.
25 Investigates will continue to follow developments as lawmakers work to finalize the legislation.
Enough Abuse sent Boston 25 the following statement:
“Today’s report confirms what survivors have been telling us for decades. Nearly 1,000 children were abused across these three dioceses, and church leaders hid it. But a report is not justice. The Attorney General’s own findings show that many of these cases can never be prosecuted because the clock ran out, and too many survivors are still locked out of the courthouse by an arbitrary deadline. Survivors of childhood sexual abuse often need decades before they can speak about what happened to them, and Massachusetts law should not punish them for that.
The Attorney General has now called on the Legislature to eliminate the civil statute of limitations for these claims, to create a lookback period so survivors whose claims have already expired have a way back into court, and to eliminate the $20,000 charitable immunity cap on child sexual abuse claims. The Lawn amendment answers that call. Lawmakers should pass it without delay, so that every survivor has a path to accountability, and no institution in Massachusetts ever again decides it can simply wait out the children it failed."
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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