For Sex Abuse Victims, How Late Is Too Late to Sue?

A new compromise bill to remove time limits on the filing of lawsuits by victims of child sexual abuse drew renewed opposition Monday from longtime opponents of previous efforts, the Connecticut Catholic Public Affairs Conference and the insurance industry.

The compromise attempted to address objections to previous proposals by making the change effective only for future actions rather than retroactive.

Michael C. Culhane with the Connecticut Catholic Public Affairs Conference: the amount of time 'is already very generous'

But opponents said the current statute of limitations--victims of childhood abuse have 30 years from the time they turn 18 to file--is adequate.

"That's long enough. That's one of the longest times in the country," said Michael C. Culhane, executive director of the Catholic Conference, an organization representing the state's Catholic bishops. "It's already very generous."

"Statute of limitations ensures that information is available and evidence does become stale," the Insurance Association of Connecticut said in written testimony on the bill. "How is a defendant to defend against against a claim, potentially 60 years after an event happened?"

The statute of limitations question is of immediate importance to the Catholic Conference because of a a high-profile case set to begin this week against St. Francis Hospital. That suit claims the hospital failed to appropriately handle sexual abuse allegations against Dr. George Reardon, former St. Francis endocrinologist suspected of abusing hundreds of children starting as early as the 1960s. More than 50 victims in that case are unable to file suit because too much time has passed.

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