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Bankruptcy Court Calls Catholic Church Dishonest
Posted by: Tim Kosnoff
November 11, 2007
Topic: New Idaho Law Gives Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse the Hope of Justice

Judge Adler Rebukes San Diego Archdiocese for Dishonest Use of Bankruptcy laws to "hammer down" abuse victims.

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Brothers That Won Landmark Supreme Court case Exposing Secret BSA Pedophile Database Settle
Posted by: Tim Kosnoff
April 28, 2007
Topic: Brothers Who Won Landmark Supreme Court Case Over Secret Pedophile Files Settle Cases with BSA

     Supreme Court Opinion in July 2006  Established Abuse Victims? Rights to Access to BSA internal secret files which document tens of thousands of child molesters in scouting positions.      Two brothers raised in Federal Way settled their lawsuits last month against the Boy Scouts of America, Inc.;    Chief Sealth Council BSA of Seattle and the former Mount Rainier Council BSA of Tacoma. The cases involved years of sexual abuse by their then Scoutmaster, Bruce Phelps. Phelps was active in the Federal Way and West Seattle communities in scouting from the 1960's until the 1990's.   The settlement amounts  are to remain confidential at the insistence of the BSA. Another man from Federal Way settled his case against the BSA last fall. A fourth abuse survivor of Phelps has refused to settle his case. Trial is set for October in King County Superior Court in Seattle.             The brothers hailed the abuse as ?one victory for two people in the long struggle to expose the institutional tolerance for child sexual abuse within the BSA.?  Matt and Tom Stewart  battled the BSA to the Washington Supreme Court over the right of access to the secret pedophile database the BSA had been keeping secret for nearly 90 years.  The BSA had destroyed many of the pedophile files it had been keeping beginning in 1971. Over  ten thousand files remained which overwhelmingly demonstrated that the BSA had long been a magnet for child molesters. The lawsuit alleged that the BSA had a duty to disclose the nature and severity of its pedophile problem to parents and scouts and to take measures to identify and remove pedophiles from leadership positions in scouting. Instead, the BSA hid the problem from parents and promoted the organization as a safe place where parents could entrust their children and where they would be taught leadership, civic and outdoor values.  The files that survived contained a treasure trove of information about how pedophiles operate, how they infiltrate youth organizations, groom and abuse boys and how they manipulate them through humiliation and shame into not disclosing the abuse.             ?The legal process was difficult but it was also emotionally cathartic for me. It gave me a chance to expose my abuser, protect kids and get justice. I would encourage other adult survivors of child sexual abuse to come forward, even if you?ve been told before that too much time has passed, that you should have come forward sooner, that the statute of limitations has run ? you have a chance now to warn parents, safeguard children and get compensation for yourself and your family,? added Tom Stewart. 

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Former Victims Speak Out Praising New Law Giving Rights to Victims
Posted by: Tim Kosnoff
April 02, 2007
Topic: New Idaho Law Gives Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse the Hope of Justice

BOISE -- Former victims of sex abuse spoke out on the Statehouse steps today, commending lawmakers for passing legislation that gives victims more time to file lawsuits in their cases. Governor Butch Otter recently signed a bill into law that extends the civil statute of limitations in cases of sexual abuse. Now, a group called SNAP, which stands for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is encouraging victims to come forward and get help. ?We want to thank legislators for making it easier, not harder, for childhood sex abuse victims to seek justice in the courts and expose predators,? said Mary Grant, SNAP regional director. The group also passed out fliers outside the Statehouse that encourage other victims of sexual abuse to come forward and use the law. Adam Atchison NewsChannel 7

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New law gives abuse victims more time
Posted by: CDA Press
April 02, 2007
Topic: New Idaho Law Gives Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse the Hope of Justice

A victim advocates group is praising a bill signed into law by Gov. Butch Otter last week that would give sex abuse victims more time to file lawsuits. But with some major organizations seemingly exempt from the new law, there is still much more work to do, said Mary Grant, Western regional director for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "I know it's going to be a safer place for kids," Grant said Wednesday. "It's a process of really starting to break down the denial, and that's because of the courage of the victims." Victims of child sex abuse now must file civil claims in their cases within five years after turning 18. Under the bill, a claim could be filed after a child turns 18, within five years of the time he or she "discovers or reasonably should have discovered the abuse and its relationship to an injury suffered by the child." The bill also adds a new section allowing abuse victims to file civil claims against employers of perpetrators, if the employers knew of abuse and were negligent in not helping stop it. Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake, said he signed off on the bill because it was a step forward, but had serious reservations since it gave immunity to organizations where the perpetrator is a volunteer. Under the law, two major organizations --the Boy Scouts of America and the Mormon Church -- would be protected from lawsuits, he said "It created a group that would be immune from litigation by saying you could not sue organizations if they weren't an employee," Jorgenson said. "The language of the bill came from a Salt Lake City-based law firm. "It was craftily done." Jorgenson said he pulled a similar bill earlier in the session that would not have exempted volunteer organizations when he heard the current bill was being proposed by Rep. James Ruchti, D-Pocatello, who is Mormon. "I did not know it had the exclusion. Once I found out it was a bad bill I told them so," Jorgenson said. "Quite frankly, they (religious organizations) need to be held to the highest standards." Grant agreed with Jorgenson that the exemption should not be included in the bill, but said "it's moving forward, though it's not perfect." "It's a long, uphill battle and it's going to continue that way," Grant said. http://www.cdapress.com/articles/2007/03/29/news/news03.prt 3/30/2007

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