Lawmakers move closer to letting child sex abuse victims sue
By MARC LEVY Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — For the first time, prominent Republican state senators are putting their support behind legislation in Pennsylvania to change the law to allow now-adult victims of child sexual abuse to sue their perpetrators or institutions that didn’t prevent it. Wednesday’s vote, 11-3, in the Senate Judiciary Committee comes after years of damning investigations into child sexual abuse by clergy in Pennsylvania’s Roman Catholic dioceses. It also signals that the legislation may have enough Republican support to pass the full state Senate. Similar legislation passed the House earlier this month. Many childhood victims of sexual assault lost the right to sue in Pennsylvania when they turned 18 or were young adults.