The Josh Duggar and Dennis Hastert cases highlight the need to reform criminal and civil statutes of limitations (SOL) so that victims of childhood sexual abuse can seek justice in the courts of law when they are ready, even if it is years after the abuse against them occurred. In fact, I dare anyone to name the never-ending list of perpetrators and institutions that have cheated justice and gotten a free pass from this legal technicality—Penn State, the Olympic swim team, Catholic and Latter-day Saints bishops, Jewish rabbis, the Horace Mann School in New York, and the Boy Scouts, among others. All these, and thousands of others show how perverse the current SOLs can be when it comes to this horrific crime. There is hope, though.
An SOL is nothing other than a deadline for going to court. And when it expires, a victim—regardless of the strength of the case—is shut out of the justice system. There are good reasons for SOLs in many contexts, like contract and property disputes, but no good reason for an SOL when the victim is a child. We know that the average age for victims to come forward is 42, which is several decades after the abuse occurred. So, the only beneficiaries of short SOLs are sex offenders themselves, and entities that aid and abet and cover up their crimes.
The criminal charges filed last week against the Minneapolis Archdiocese show the light that shines at the end of the SOL tunnel.
The SOLs Prevent Justice for Hastert’s Victims
Three of Dennis Hastert’s victims have come forward. So far, no one is remotely within the Illinois criminal or civil SOLs. When Hastert was a coach at Yorkville High School in Illinois from 1965 to 1981, the child sex abuse SOLs were cruelly short. The criminal SOL ran three years after the abuse, and the personal injury SOL ran two years after the event. That’s right; victims had to race to court to get justice.
But for these short SOLs, Hastert’s victims could have pressed charges or sued Hastert for the abuse when they were ready, which is more often than not in one’s 40s. According to the indictment, Hastert’s payments to one of his victims began in 2010. If that man was 15 in 1980 (to use round numbers), he was 45 in 2010.
We don’t know if any of his victims went to prosecutors before then. It is unlikely because until the turn of the century, victims were nearly uniformly silent. As Steven Reinboldt’s sister reports, he didn’t think anyone would believe him. Sadly, he died of AIDS in 1995, before he reached the age at which many victims are able to come forward. Even if they did, the odds are nearly 100 percent that they would have missed the SOL deadline.
Imagine the public consequences had a prosecutor been able to file charges earlier. With Hastert unmasked, he might not have been in the position in 2006 as Speaker of the House to cover up Rep. Mark Foley’s sexual abuse of high school pages. When Hastert was criticized for that cover up, he shrugged and said, “would have, should have, could have,” a hard-hearted response that now sounds like a confession.
The Duggars Endangered Their Children and Then Benefitted From the SOLs
The Josh Duggar case creates an echo chamber on SOLs. Arkansas prosecutors say that they could not go forward due to the SOL in that state. The law required prosecution within three years of a report, or seven years after the age of majority. Without more information, it is difficult to know which governs, so the prosecutors must be taken at their word.
What few are paying attention to, though, is that Josh was not the only wrongdoer. Parents are required to protect their children from abuse and neglect. What were Jim Bob and Michelle thinking when they waited until Josh had told them three times that he had abused his sisters (and apparently a babysitter) before they took action? Giving an abuser a pass constitutes neglect, and doing so makes a person complicit in the abuse that happened after the first abuse. But the SOLs on those charges also expired long ago.
By the way, the fact that the girls were asleep does not solve Jim Bob, Michelle, or Josh’s problems anymore than it solves Bill Cosby’s. Taking advantage of defenseless girls and women is classic sex offender behavior, not a kinder way to do it. For all four of them, the SOLs are their “solution.”
The Minnesota SOL Reform Shows the Door to Real Justice
Before survivors everywhere despair, the movement for SOL reform is the light at the end of the tunnel, and the recent criminal charges against the Minneapolis Archdiocese should give each and every one of you hope. In 2013, Minnesota joined the growing number of states that have enacted new laws that revive expired SOLs. Minnesota’s version is a three-year window from 2013–16 that bars the statute of limitations defense even if the SOL had previously expired. The state also has eliminated its civil SOL and its criminal SOL where DNA has been preserved.
The revived civil SOLs pushed buried evidence to the sunlight, and prosecutors were able to file criminal charges against the Archdiocese for gross misdemeanors endangering children. This is the first criminal prosecution of a diocese for endangering children, despite the nationwide endangerment by the bishops, who have banked on (and invested in) short SOLs.
While it is unconstitutional to revive a criminal SOL, when the civil SOLs are revived, victims come forward and point to trails of evidence that in turn can lead to criminal charges that are within the SOL. That is precisely what happened in Minnesota, and that is the sole reason that prosecutors have filed charges against the Minneapolis Archdiocese for the predatory priest, Curtis Wehmeyer.
High-profile cases or not, the time is now for each and every state legislature and Supreme Court to do an SOL gut check and start choosing children over predators and institutions, especially the four states at the very bottom of the barrel: Alabama, Michigan, Mississippi, and New York. Why is it so difficult to move SOLs aside? Powerful lobbyists—including the Catholic bishops, the Latter-day Saints bishops, and Jewish rabbis—invest millions against the victims, and the insurance lobby enjoys collecting premiums while it avoids having to pay out. Legislators have listened to the lobbyists and not the victims in too many states for too long. Predators know SOLs and they gravitate to the states with the worst SOLs. Thus, SOL reform really is a choice: predators or children.
Let’s take the SOL out of the child sex abuse picture.
http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg00SOL Reformhttp://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpgSOL Reform2015-06-12 01:36:302015-06-12 01:36:30Professor Marci Hamilton, Dennis Hastert, the Duggars, and the Light at the End of the Tunnel, Hamilton and Griffin on Rights
A former Warren County sheriff accused of molesting a 10-year-old boy decades ago is scheduled to stand trial July 20.
A judge scheduled the date during a hearing in which the accuser and a relative chastised the ex-sheriff in open court after he declined to accept a guilty plea.
Edward Bullock, 86, who now lives in Ocean County, opted for the trial after rejecting a plea offer of eight years in prison Tuesday in state Superior Court in Flemington.
Bullock — who was present for the hearing in a wheelchair — was indicted last year on three counts each of aggravated sexual assault and sexual assault. Prosecutors say he began sexually abusing the boy in December 1986 and the abuse continued for more than a year.
Bullock, who remains free on $100,000 bail, has pleaded not guilty to the charges and rejected a prior plea offer that called for seven years in state prison.
The former sheriff could face up to 90 years in prison if convicted, Judge Angela Borkowski said.
The prosecution’s most recent plea offer called for Bullock to plead guilty to one count of aggravated sexual assault for a recommended eight-year sentence, and one count of sexual assault with a five-year prison term to run at the same time.
When asked by the judge if he wanted to proceed to trial, Bullock — who was wearing headphones to hear the proceedings — said “Yes, definitely.”
A man in the back of the courtroom, later identified by a relative as a victim, audibly cursed at Bullock.
“It’s a travesty it got this far,” the relative later said after meeting with county sheriff’s officers outside the courtroom. “It altered his life and everyone around him.”
As Bullock was wheeled out of the courtroom, the relative pointed at his eyes, then at Bullock.
The case was transferred in November to Hunterdon County due to an undisclosed conflict with Warren County’s criminal division judge. When the case was introduced in Flemington in April, attorney Brian Corley White said the defense was evaluating Bullock for his competency to stand trial. There was no issue with the evaluation Tuesday.
The trial is expected to last four days, with the prosecution expecting to present its case in three days and the defense in one, the judge said.
Both White and Warren County First Assistant Prosecutor Michael McDonald said they are ready to proceed.
Civil suits on sex abuse allegations are also pending against the former sheriff.
Full article here: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/warren-county/express-times/index.ssf/2015/06/ex-warren_county_sheriff_to_stand_trial_on_child_molestation_charges.html
http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg00SOL Reformhttp://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpgSOL Reform2015-06-11 03:44:402015-06-11 03:44:40Steve Novak, Accuser's relative curses at Ex-Warren County sheriff in child molestation hearing, Lehigh Valley Live
Three women kicked out of the Fundamentalist LDS Church returned to Hildale Tuesday to demand their kids after being separated about three years ago.
Sarah Draper was one of the mothers.
When leaders kicked Draper out with just the clothes on her back, they kept her five minor kids. At the time their ages were 2 through 12. Leaders exiled the kids’ father three years earlier, claiming ownership over the children.
“It took us about three years for us to be able to be to the standing that we are — to have the courage and find it within ourselves to know, we were living a lie,” Draper said.
With the help of an attorney and organizations aimed at helping former FLDS members, the mothers went to get their kids back. They dressed as their former selves to face the family and friends who still live there.
“They’re my brothers and sisters, sons and daughters,” said May Keate, another exiled mother. “I know my adult children are going to be devastated, because they still believe with all their might.”
But Draper and Keate said the FLDS Church has undergone drastic changes since their departure. Through contact with current members, they said leaders have done away with the institution of marriage.
“The things that they are taught are contrary to what we believe as good wholesome, foundation upbringing for children,” Draper said.
Lawyers put notices on the doors of the compounds. The court documents demanded the leaders return the children to their mothers, or face kidnapping charges.
“I think that’s where we’re at, I think it’s the truth,” said Great Commission Utah employee Mike Menning. “When the moms want their underage children back, and church authorities take them, they have no right.”
Supporters waived signs, and FLDS members drove by as an intimidation tactic. After confronting her adult son, Draper got her five juvenile children.
Another mother got her four and Keate got her seven. However, it’s a difficult transition for the kids, many don’t want to go out of fear. Keate had to take hers kicking and screaming.
“The children were told at our departure that it would seal their damnation if we were contacted,” Draper said. “And it would seal our damnation.”
But Draper said there are thousands of parentless children in the FLDS Church, all told their mothers don’t love them. She said their main message is to those kids, that they are still loved. The second message is to other mothers, that there’s hope of seeing their kids again.
http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg00SOL Reformhttp://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpgSOL Reform2015-06-11 03:27:092015-06-11 03:27:09Zach Whitney, Exiled FLDS moms return to Hildale demanding their children, Fox 13
Guest Blog: Jordan Walsh, The Children of America Have Lost A True Hero: RIP Maj. Beau Biden.
Major Beau Biden, son of Vice President Joe Biden, an Iraq War veteran, and former Attorney General of the state of Delaware, will be laid to rest tomorrow. Sadly, he lost his battle with brain cancer at just forty-six years old. Yet, in his relatively short life, Beau Biden did more for child protection in this nation than arguably any other state-level politician of his era, and what’s more, as much as most advocates for reform can hope to accomplish in a life twice as long.
Biden was elected as Delaware’s Attorney General in 2006. During his eight year tenure, Delaware became the poster-child for state level commitment to effectuating child protection policies across the board. Despite the recent wave of nationwide progress brought on by such high-profile cases as that of Jerry Sandusky, even now in 2015, Delaware remains an apex state as to access to justice for survivors of child sexual abuse. And it remains so because of the policies and reforms that Biden worked tirelessly to put in place in Delaware as early as 2007, his first year as the state’s AG.
Although Delaware was an early-adopter of the movement to eliminate criminal statutes of limitations [“SOLs”] as relates to prosecutions for child sexual abuse in 1992 (a trend which now includes over half of the several states having eliminated barriers to prosecution for at least top-count C.S.A.-related crimes), Biden’s tenure as AG saw Delaware enact the nation’s most child-friendly reforms to civil statutes of limitation—those governing a survivor’s right to sue their abuser and contributing negligent and/or fraudulent third parties for damages.
In 2007, Delaware not only eliminated its civil SOL prospectively, it also enacted the first retroactive “civil window” of its kind as to C.S.A. survivors in the United States, allowing for revival of previously expired C.S.A.-related tort claims to be filed and brought into court. While retroactive revival of an expired criminal cause of action violates due process and the Ex Post Facto clauses of the Constitution, as any revived prosecution would represent an unconstitutional change in substantive rights and duties; revival of civil tort claims via legislative enactment is constitutional in most states, as it is considered merely a procedural change. Given that throughout the nineteenth and much of the twentieth centuries, child sexual abuse was treated no more seriously than simple assault—such as a bar fight—and subject to standard criminal assault/battery and civil personal injury SOLs of often only one or two years from the act, it is important to recognize that for for many survivors of historical abuse, extension and revival of civil claims is the only recourse available. Under AG Beau Biden, Delaware was the first state to truly combine an understanding of the serial nature of child sexual abuse with the many factors which delay and impair the ability of survivors to report (including the bystander effect), and come to the proper and necessary legislative judgments to protect children—now and in the future.
As is emblematic of any true advocate for change, Biden was not afraid to admit he had learned from mistakes, nor did he shirk from the responsibility to put the cause and those survivors helped by it above his own ambitions. As groundbreaking as the Delaware “window” was, it was not perfect, and needed to be expanded to include liability for abusive and grossly negligent medical and healthcare professionals.
This legislative oversight and need for correction was highlighted by the case of Dr. Earl Bradley, one of the worst known child abusers in our nation’s history, whom AG Biden both indicted criminally and instituted civil racketeering-related claims against in 2009. Bradley was convicted of abusing over 100 children in 2011. During the prosecution, Biden utilized the full power of the state to seize Bradley’s records as well as freeze his assets, allowing for additional charges to be filed in 2011. More, Biden decided not to run for the available U.S. Senate seat from Delaware in 2010—a seat his father once held–in order to stay on as AG and see Bradley convicted himself. Biden stated it was simply more important. Bradley is now serving 14 life sentences plus an additional 164 years in prison, and his case serves as a bell-weather moment in our nation’s understanding of the so-called bystander effect.
Numerous complaints were filed against Bradley in the decade before his arrest; various colleagues, as well as the institution that employed him, were aware of these complaints, yet nothing was done. The knowledge that not only his colleagues, but also, police, DAs, and disciplinary officials—many of them mandatory reporters—failed to follow up on these complaints, allowing for the abuse of dozens more children due to their silence, was simply too much for AG Biden to bear. Thus, along with his dogged pursuit of Bradley, expansion of monitoring of sex offenders statewide, and formation of a Task Force to discuss needed legislative change, he also began a partnership between the state of Delaware and the Darkness to Light Foundation’s “Stewards of Children” program, in order to address the rampant bystander effect problem impeding the progress of true child protection. In Biden’s own words:
“’Stewards of Children’ training sessions teach adults how to spot the signs of child abuse and the importance of immediately reporting the abuse to authorities. So far, nearly 14,000 Delawareans have received this training, and we will be training thousands more. Getting more adults to go through the ‘Stewards of Children’ training is the single biggest step we can take to protect more kids from abuse in Delaware. ‘Stewards of Children’ does not pull any punches; it may make you uncomfortable. But you will better understand, after receiving this training, how often child abuse occurs in our communities and how critically important it is to report child sexual abuse.”
Beau Biden realized that it is our job as adults to work together across all sectors of society to protect children—they cannot do it for themselves, nor should our justice system expect them to. This kind of integrated approach—combining public and private entities to effectuate true access to justice—is now at the forefront of the child protection effort nationwide. Beau Biden was a true pioneer, and a hero to America’s children. He will be sorely missed, and I know myself, Prof. Marci Hamilton and all of us at SOL-Reform.com hope we can continue the fight. May he rest in peace, and may his legacy of child protection flourish.
Picture Credit: By Doug Gansler [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg00SOL Reformhttp://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpgSOL Reform2015-06-10 20:26:562015-06-10 20:26:56Jordan Walsh, The Children of America Have Lost A True Hero: RIP Maj. Beau Biden., Hamilton and Griffin on Rights
TLC canceled ”Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” on Friday after photos surfaced of star Mama June hanging out with a convicted child molester.
In August, “Sons of Guns” star Will Hayden was arrested on multiple rape charges against minors. His daughter, another star on the show, then told “Dr. Phil” that she too had been touched inappropriately. Discovery, which owns TLC, swiftly canceled that show, too.
In 2013, reality TV producer Donald Luciano – who worked on some episodes of OWN’s reality program “Beverly’s Full House” about the life of former supermodel Beverly Johnson – pled guilty to possession of images of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
So does reality TV have a pedophile problem?
“The issue is not just about reality TV. Hollywood bears a lot of responsibility normalizing this behavior by sexualizing young girls. Look at the way former Disney starlets get pushed into overtly sexual roles as soon as they become adults,” said Dan Gainor, Vice President of Culture at the Media Research Center. “Too bad director Roman Polanski doesn’t get the (quick cancelation) treatment. He got an Oscar and a standing ovation and he raped a 13-year-old girl.”
Alec Shankman, Head of Alternative Programming & Digital Media at Abrams Artists Agency, noted that reality TV background checks are extremely thorough and have even been amped up recently, but also acknowledged that it is impossible to catch everything – or everyone.
http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg00SOL Reformhttp://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpgSOL Reform2015-06-09 19:05:402015-06-09 19:05:40Hollie McKay, Does reality TV have a pedophile problem?, Fox News
A suspended Chester County priest pleaded guilty Monday to federal child pornography counts and charges of destroying evidence.
Mark Haynes, 56, previously of SS. Simon and Jude Parish in Westtown, admitted trading hundreds of pornographic images of children over Instagram and enticing teenage girls he met online to send him explicit photos of themselves.
He contacted the teens while posing online as a 16-year-old girl named Katie Caponetti between 2010 and 2014.
“He has accepted responsibility for what he has done,” said Haynes’ lawyer, Alan J. Tauber. “He is very remorseful, and he is prepared to accept the consequences.”
Prosecutors said Haynes had illicit online contact with 25 minors. Federal investigators previously stated that they had received a host of additional allegations against Haynes since his arrest last year, including reports from three accusers who said the priest molested them in the 1990s.
Haynes has denied that he sexually abused anyone, and prosecutors did not charge him in connection with those allegations, saying they appeared to fall outside the statute of limitations.
Haynes also admitted Monday that he attempted to destroy a laptop containing evidence against him after federal agents searched his home.
He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison on the child pornography charges. U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell set his sentencing hearing for Sept. 10.
Archdiocesan officials suspended Haynes shortly after his arrest. He had worked in eight suburban parishes since his ordination in 1985.
Full article: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20150609_Suspended_Chester_County_priest_pleads_guilty_to_child_pornography_charges.html
http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg00SOL Reformhttp://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpgSOL Reform2015-06-09 15:33:032015-06-09 15:33:03Jeremy Roebuck, Suspended Chester County priest pleads guilty to child pornography charges, The Inquirer
Professor Marci Hamilton, Dennis Hastert, the Duggars, and the Light at the End of the Tunnel, Hamilton and Griffin on Rights
/in Uncategorized /by SOL ReformSteve Novak, Accuser’s relative curses at Ex-Warren County sheriff in child molestation hearing, Lehigh Valley Live
/in New Jersey /by SOL ReformA former Warren County sheriff accused of molesting a 10-year-old boy decades ago is scheduled to stand trial July 20.
A judge scheduled the date during a hearing in which the accuser and a relative chastised the ex-sheriff in open court after he declined to accept a guilty plea.
Edward Bullock, 86, who now lives in Ocean County, opted for the trial after rejecting a plea offer of eight years in prison Tuesday in state Superior Court in Flemington.
Bullock — who was present for the hearing in a wheelchair — was indicted last year on three counts each of aggravated sexual assault and sexual assault. Prosecutors say he began sexually abusing the boy in December 1986 and the abuse continued for more than a year.
Bullock, who remains free on $100,000 bail, has pleaded not guilty to the charges and rejected a prior plea offer that called for seven years in state prison.
The former sheriff could face up to 90 years in prison if convicted, Judge Angela Borkowski said.
The prosecution’s most recent plea offer called for Bullock to plead guilty to one count of aggravated sexual assault for a recommended eight-year sentence, and one count of sexual assault with a five-year prison term to run at the same time.
When asked by the judge if he wanted to proceed to trial, Bullock — who was wearing headphones to hear the proceedings — said “Yes, definitely.”
A man in the back of the courtroom, later identified by a relative as a victim, audibly cursed at Bullock.
“It’s a travesty it got this far,” the relative later said after meeting with county sheriff’s officers outside the courtroom. “It altered his life and everyone around him.”
As Bullock was wheeled out of the courtroom, the relative pointed at his eyes, then at Bullock.
The case was transferred in November to Hunterdon County due to an undisclosed conflict with Warren County’s criminal division judge. When the case was introduced in Flemington in April, attorney Brian Corley White said the defense was evaluating Bullock for his competency to stand trial. There was no issue with the evaluation Tuesday.
The trial is expected to last four days, with the prosecution expecting to present its case in three days and the defense in one, the judge said.
Both White and Warren County First Assistant Prosecutor Michael McDonald said they are ready to proceed.
Civil suits on sex abuse allegations are also pending against the former sheriff.
Full article here: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/warren-county/express-times/index.ssf/2015/06/ex-warren_county_sheriff_to_stand_trial_on_child_molestation_charges.html
Zach Whitney, Exiled FLDS moms return to Hildale demanding their children, Fox 13
/in Utah /by SOL ReformThree women kicked out of the Fundamentalist LDS Church returned to Hildale Tuesday to demand their kids after being separated about three years ago.
Sarah Draper was one of the mothers.
When leaders kicked Draper out with just the clothes on her back, they kept her five minor kids. At the time their ages were 2 through 12. Leaders exiled the kids’ father three years earlier, claiming ownership over the children.
“It took us about three years for us to be able to be to the standing that we are — to have the courage and find it within ourselves to know, we were living a lie,” Draper said.
With the help of an attorney and organizations aimed at helping former FLDS members, the mothers went to get their kids back. They dressed as their former selves to face the family and friends who still live there.
“They’re my brothers and sisters, sons and daughters,” said May Keate, another exiled mother. “I know my adult children are going to be devastated, because they still believe with all their might.”
But Draper and Keate said the FLDS Church has undergone drastic changes since their departure. Through contact with current members, they said leaders have done away with the institution of marriage.
“The things that they are taught are contrary to what we believe as good wholesome, foundation upbringing for children,” Draper said.
Lawyers put notices on the doors of the compounds. The court documents demanded the leaders return the children to their mothers, or face kidnapping charges.
“I think that’s where we’re at, I think it’s the truth,” said Great Commission Utah employee Mike Menning. “When the moms want their underage children back, and church authorities take them, they have no right.”
Supporters waived signs, and FLDS members drove by as an intimidation tactic. After confronting her adult son, Draper got her five juvenile children.
Another mother got her four and Keate got her seven. However, it’s a difficult transition for the kids, many don’t want to go out of fear. Keate had to take hers kicking and screaming.
“The children were told at our departure that it would seal their damnation if we were contacted,” Draper said. “And it would seal our damnation.”
But Draper said there are thousands of parentless children in the FLDS Church, all told their mothers don’t love them. She said their main message is to those kids, that they are still loved. The second message is to other mothers, that there’s hope of seeing their kids again.
Jordan Walsh, The Children of America Have Lost A True Hero: RIP Maj. Beau Biden., Hamilton and Griffin on Rights
/in Delaware, Jordan Walsh /by SOL ReformGuest Blog: Jordan Walsh, The Children of America Have Lost A True Hero: RIP Maj. Beau Biden.
Major Beau Biden, son of Vice President Joe Biden, an Iraq War veteran, and former Attorney General of the state of Delaware, will be laid to rest tomorrow. Sadly, he lost his battle with brain cancer at just forty-six years old. Yet, in his relatively short life, Beau Biden did more for child protection in this nation than arguably any other state-level politician of his era, and what’s more, as much as most advocates for reform can hope to accomplish in a life twice as long.
Biden was elected as Delaware’s Attorney General in 2006. During his eight year tenure, Delaware became the poster-child for state level commitment to effectuating child protection policies across the board. Despite the recent wave of nationwide progress brought on by such high-profile cases as that of Jerry Sandusky, even now in 2015, Delaware remains an apex state as to access to justice for survivors of child sexual abuse. And it remains so because of the policies and reforms that Biden worked tirelessly to put in place in Delaware as early as 2007, his first year as the state’s AG.
Although Delaware was an early-adopter of the movement to eliminate criminal statutes of limitations [“SOLs”] as relates to prosecutions for child sexual abuse in 1992 (a trend which now includes over half of the several states having eliminated barriers to prosecution for at least top-count C.S.A.-related crimes), Biden’s tenure as AG saw Delaware enact the nation’s most child-friendly reforms to civil statutes of limitation—those governing a survivor’s right to sue their abuser and contributing negligent and/or fraudulent third parties for damages.
In 2007, Delaware not only eliminated its civil SOL prospectively, it also enacted the first retroactive “civil window” of its kind as to C.S.A. survivors in the United States, allowing for revival of previously expired C.S.A.-related tort claims to be filed and brought into court. While retroactive revival of an expired criminal cause of action violates due process and the Ex Post Facto clauses of the Constitution, as any revived prosecution would represent an unconstitutional change in substantive rights and duties; revival of civil tort claims via legislative enactment is constitutional in most states, as it is considered merely a procedural change. Given that throughout the nineteenth and much of the twentieth centuries, child sexual abuse was treated no more seriously than simple assault—such as a bar fight—and subject to standard criminal assault/battery and civil personal injury SOLs of often only one or two years from the act, it is important to recognize that for for many survivors of historical abuse, extension and revival of civil claims is the only recourse available. Under AG Beau Biden, Delaware was the first state to truly combine an understanding of the serial nature of child sexual abuse with the many factors which delay and impair the ability of survivors to report (including the bystander effect), and come to the proper and necessary legislative judgments to protect children—now and in the future.
As is emblematic of any true advocate for change, Biden was not afraid to admit he had learned from mistakes, nor did he shirk from the responsibility to put the cause and those survivors helped by it above his own ambitions. As groundbreaking as the Delaware “window” was, it was not perfect, and needed to be expanded to include liability for abusive and grossly negligent medical and healthcare professionals.
This legislative oversight and need for correction was highlighted by the case of Dr. Earl Bradley, one of the worst known child abusers in our nation’s history, whom AG Biden both indicted criminally and instituted civil racketeering-related claims against in 2009. Bradley was convicted of abusing over 100 children in 2011. During the prosecution, Biden utilized the full power of the state to seize Bradley’s records as well as freeze his assets, allowing for additional charges to be filed in 2011. More, Biden decided not to run for the available U.S. Senate seat from Delaware in 2010—a seat his father once held–in order to stay on as AG and see Bradley convicted himself. Biden stated it was simply more important. Bradley is now serving 14 life sentences plus an additional 164 years in prison, and his case serves as a bell-weather moment in our nation’s understanding of the so-called bystander effect.
Numerous complaints were filed against Bradley in the decade before his arrest; various colleagues, as well as the institution that employed him, were aware of these complaints, yet nothing was done. The knowledge that not only his colleagues, but also, police, DAs, and disciplinary officials—many of them mandatory reporters—failed to follow up on these complaints, allowing for the abuse of dozens more children due to their silence, was simply too much for AG Biden to bear. Thus, along with his dogged pursuit of Bradley, expansion of monitoring of sex offenders statewide, and formation of a Task Force to discuss needed legislative change, he also began a partnership between the state of Delaware and the Darkness to Light Foundation’s “Stewards of Children” program, in order to address the rampant bystander effect problem impeding the progress of true child protection. In Biden’s own words:
“’Stewards of Children’ training sessions teach adults how to spot the signs of child abuse and the importance of immediately reporting the abuse to authorities. So far, nearly 14,000 Delawareans have received this training, and we will be training thousands more. Getting more adults to go through the ‘Stewards of Children’ training is the single biggest step we can take to protect more kids from abuse in Delaware. ‘Stewards of Children’ does not pull any punches; it may make you uncomfortable. But you will better understand, after receiving this training, how often child abuse occurs in our communities and how critically important it is to report child sexual abuse.”
Beau Biden realized that it is our job as adults to work together across all sectors of society to protect children—they cannot do it for themselves, nor should our justice system expect them to. This kind of integrated approach—combining public and private entities to effectuate true access to justice—is now at the forefront of the child protection effort nationwide. Beau Biden was a true pioneer, and a hero to America’s children. He will be sorely missed, and I know myself, Prof. Marci Hamilton and all of us at SOL-Reform.com hope we can continue the fight. May he rest in peace, and may his legacy of child protection flourish.
Picture Credit: By Doug Gansler [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Hollie McKay, Does reality TV have a pedophile problem?, Fox News
/in Uncategorized /by SOL ReformTLC canceled ”Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” on Friday after photos surfaced of star Mama June hanging out with a convicted child molester.
In August, “Sons of Guns” star Will Hayden was arrested on multiple rape charges against minors. His daughter, another star on the show, then told “Dr. Phil” that she too had been touched inappropriately. Discovery, which owns TLC, swiftly canceled that show, too.
In 2013, reality TV producer Donald Luciano – who worked on some episodes of OWN’s reality program “Beverly’s Full House” about the life of former supermodel Beverly Johnson – pled guilty to possession of images of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
So does reality TV have a pedophile problem?
“The issue is not just about reality TV. Hollywood bears a lot of responsibility normalizing this behavior by sexualizing young girls. Look at the way former Disney starlets get pushed into overtly sexual roles as soon as they become adults,” said Dan Gainor, Vice President of Culture at the Media Research Center. “Too bad director Roman Polanski doesn’t get the (quick cancelation) treatment. He got an Oscar and a standing ovation and he raped a 13-year-old girl.”
Alec Shankman, Head of Alternative Programming & Digital Media at Abrams Artists Agency, noted that reality TV background checks are extremely thorough and have even been amped up recently, but also acknowledged that it is impossible to catch everything – or everyone.
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2014/10/27/does-reality-tv-have-pedophile-problem/
Jeremy Roebuck, Suspended Chester County priest pleads guilty to child pornography charges, The Inquirer
/in Pennsylvania /by SOL ReformA suspended Chester County priest pleaded guilty Monday to federal child pornography counts and charges of destroying evidence.
Mark Haynes, 56, previously of SS. Simon and Jude Parish in Westtown, admitted trading hundreds of pornographic images of children over Instagram and enticing teenage girls he met online to send him explicit photos of themselves.
He contacted the teens while posing online as a 16-year-old girl named Katie Caponetti between 2010 and 2014.
“He has accepted responsibility for what he has done,” said Haynes’ lawyer, Alan J. Tauber. “He is very remorseful, and he is prepared to accept the consequences.”
Prosecutors said Haynes had illicit online contact with 25 minors. Federal investigators previously stated that they had received a host of additional allegations against Haynes since his arrest last year, including reports from three accusers who said the priest molested them in the 1990s.
Haynes has denied that he sexually abused anyone, and prosecutors did not charge him in connection with those allegations, saying they appeared to fall outside the statute of limitations.
Haynes also admitted Monday that he attempted to destroy a laptop containing evidence against him after federal agents searched his home.
He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison on the child pornography charges. U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell set his sentencing hearing for Sept. 10.
Archdiocesan officials suspended Haynes shortly after his arrest. He had worked in eight suburban parishes since his ordination in 1985.
Full article: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20150609_Suspended_Chester_County_priest_pleads_guilty_to_child_pornography_charges.html