Legislature(2009 - 2010)BUTROVICH 205
02/27/2009 01:30 PM Senate HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB47 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 47 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SB 47-STATUTE OF LIMITATION FOR SEXUAL OFFENSES
1:32:59 PM
CHAIR DAVIS announced SB 47 to be up for consideration.
SENATOR FRENCH, sponsor of SB 47, said this bill lifts the
statute of limitations for people who were victims of sexual
abuse in the past and gives them a one year window in which to
bring their case.
SENATOR DYSON thanked Senator French for his efforts on this
topic and asked him, harkening back to his experience as a
prosecutor, how tough is it to establish a crime that
purportedly happened 30 years ago and how tough is it for the
defendant to defend himself against it.
SENATOR FRENCH replied that it is just as tough on both sides,
keeping in mind that this is a civil and not a criminal
prosecution statute. Even so, the burden of proof rests on the
victim to establish that there was a crime. Given the distance
of time, the fading memories and absence of witnesses, he did
not believe a flood of cases would open all of a sudden. What
this does do is give people the opportunity; maybe it's nothing
more than being able to file a piece of paper with the court
that says they were injured, or just knowing that they could if
they wanted to. He thought there was some healing value in that.
1:36:24 PM
SENATOR DYSON offered a hypothetical situation; a former victim
makes an accusation against a perpetrator who was a member of a
larger organization such as a school system; the perpetrator is
now deceased and there are no eye witnesses. What is the burden
upon the alleged victim to establish that the crime actually
happened and what protections are there from someone who might
be just looking for help when there was no crime?
SENATOR FRENCH suggested that while one could probably build a
"prima fascia" case against a defendant by saying this happened
and the victim has a clear memory of it, the next step,
assigning liability to a supervising organization, is far more
difficult. The plaintiff has to prove the organization knew that
its employee was doing something wrong and that they ignored it.
A simple assertion is not going to do that.
SENATOR DYSON said if it's a "he said/she said" situation,
proving one was a victim would seem to be an insurmountable
hurdle.
SENATOR FRENCH replied if it is just an allegation between two
people and the perpetrator has passed away, there is no
recovery; nothing is to be gotten. The reason a person goes to
civil court, aside from the satisfaction of proving himself
right, is to recover something for the pain and suffering done
to him. If there is no living defendant from whom you can
recover something, the case will never get past square one.
SENATOR DYSON clarified that he is speaking in the context of
the perpetrator who is a very intrinsic part of a supervising
organization with deep pockets. Even in a civil case, you can't
recover unless you prove there was a wrong.
1:39:46 PM
SENATOR PASKVAN said there may be a distinction between
"respondeat superior liability" [Latin: "let the master answer,"
also known as the "Master-Servant Rule"] and "direct liability"
as is the case when one talks about an organizational liability.
As he sees it, this eliminates for a one-year period the
obligation for the plaintiff to prove he is within the discovery
rule, and even after one year, that lawsuit could still be
brought, but then the plaintiff would still have the burden of
proving he was within the discovery rule.
SENATOR FRENCH conceded that Senator Paskvan's knowledge of the
civil rules is superior to his own, and said he would take his
representation as accurate.
SENATOR PASKVAN said that it is also his belief that this
statute can have no effect on businesses in bankruptcy that are
subject to federal bankruptcy law.
SENATOR FRENCH agreed.
1:42:38 PM
FLORENCE KENNEY, representing herself, Juneau, AK, said she was
taken to live at Holy Cross Mission with her siblings because
their mother had TB and their father was in prison. They never
saw their Mother again because she died. They were raised very
strictly by the Sisters of St. Ann, whose mother house was in
Quebec, and who were there at the invitation of the Jesuit
priests. So, they were under the rules of not only the Sisters
of St. Ann, but of the Jesuit priests. Father Superior and a
number of other priests came to Holy Cross to live and run the
mission and to take care of the spiritual needs of all the small
villages in the area. Those priests were just like gods; there
was no law; the nearest U.S. Marshal was in McGrath. The only
way to get there was by plane and the only communication between
Holy Cross and the outside world was by mail and all mail was
censored.
When she was 13 years old, her hair was cut off for punishment.
She became depressed and quit eating or talking; her hearing was
fading, so Sister Superior called Father Superior to come over
for counseling with her. For some time he simply talked quietly
with her, but it escalated until she was 15 when they were no
longer counseling sessions, but sexual. He was always there, in
the play yard, everywhere. He would come to tell her to come to
him at night or at other times for sex. This went on until she
was 18. The nuns and priests arranged marriages between the
girls and men in the village and dictated who the girls were
allowed to marry. When talk began about the fact that she was so
old and still there, they sent her away.
1:50:55 PM
She thought she was the only one who had gone through this, and
was afraid to share it with her family or friends; so she never
talked about it. When Elsie revealed what had happened to her,
Ms. Kenney said she found the courage to speak out also. She
hoped the legislators would grant a window so that others could
come in and tell their stories about what happened to them.
She quoted: "It takes the silence of good men to allow evil to
triumph," and that is what she feels happened to them. She said
the Jesuits have what is called a "manifestation of conscience"
each day during which they would speak to one another about
anything they had done wrong. These talks are not protected by
the privilege of the confessional; so many people knew what was
going on and chose to do nothing.
SENATOR DYSON thanked Ms. Kenney for her courage in coming
forward.
1:54:13 PM
ELSIE BOUDREAU, Director, Native American Outreach, Survivors'
Network for those Abused by Priests (SNAP), supported SB 47. She
said she is also a licensed master social worker. Her Yup'ik
name is Apugen, after her maternal grandmother; she is the
youngest daughter of the late Edgar and Theresa Francis of St.
Mary's, the granddaughter of the late Alfred and Natasha Francis
of Pilot Station and the late George and Martha Abugen Peterson
of Old Andreafsky. She is married and has a son and a daughter.
She acknowledged and thanked Senator French for introducing this
extremely important bill for consideration. She said she was
thankful for herself as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and
as an advocate for others who are unable to speak their truth
about an unthinkable and heinous crime committed against them as
children. It is with them in mind and heart that she speaks
today, in an attempt to make a difference in the life of even
just one child.
Child sexual abuse leaves a lasting mark on one's soul; it robs
a child of trust and forever changes one's world view. It
profoundly affects the victim and her family. As an advocate,
she has heard stories of victims' deep-seated guilt and shame,
of attempted suicide, being beaten by their parents for
accusations against a priest. She hears from victims about the
relief they feel to be able to speak about this at last.
1:59:28 PM
MS. BOUDREAU said she was 10 years old when she was groomed and
sexually abused by a family friend who happened to be a priest.
This man was like her father and she loved him. When she became
interested in boys her own age he made her go to confession in
his room. She thought he was jealous and thought it was OK
because he was a priest. Now she has to live with the fact that
her first sexual experience was with a priest who was using her
for his own sick needs. At age 19 she wrote to him saying she
never wanted to be alone with him. She put this behind her, not
knowing that she could file a claim.
2:02:15 PM
Since coming forward as an adult and accepting that she was a
victim, she has found out that the church was aware that this
priest had a problem with young girls and did nothing. They just
moved him around from one place to another without supervision
or warning to the other communities he "served". She has become
aware that 16 other women were victimized by him.
MS. BOUDREAU said that SB 47 is a public safety issue; it is
about deterring future wrong-doing and protecting their children
and grandchildren. No one is in jeopardy unless it is proven
that they put children in harms way. She urged the committee to
support the passage of this bill.
2:05:24 PM
HENRY NAPOLEON, representing himself, Hooper Bay, AK, spoke for
himself, as a survivor of sex abuse, and for the sexually abused
children who are now adults. He said the Catholic Church sent
clergy to the villages thinking the "heathens" were too ignorant
to speak out in defense of themselves. Many of the children were
raped multiple times, their innocence stolen.
MR. NAPOLEON said, "The sexual abuse that was committed on me
haunts me. Nightmares which I do not want to remember, which I
try to put away into my past, but I cannot do that because it's
like a tumor, a spiritual tumor." He said this is a cancer in
his spirit and no surgeon can take it away from him or from
others who suffered at their hands. Victims are told that the
best they can do is speak to their relatives or a psychiatrist,
but what relief is that? He was a vulnerable, nine-year old
altar boy when his innocence was taken away.
2:10:19 PM
The clergy, the priests, the brothers, are protected by the Pope
and cannot be touched. What can we do? At least you can hear the
victims out, hear the pain they live with every day. He tried to
tell a priest, but he was told to keep quiet, that if he spoke
out he would go to hell. No matter what the priests did, they
were told it was god's will.
MR. NAPOLEON could not tell his parents what was done because
they believed in the priests and the clergy, who were god-sent.
If he'd told them they probably would not have believed him; his
father would probably have done something awful if he'd told
him. After it happened, he did not want to serve mass anymore,
he lost weight and got sick. They took him to a hospital and
they blamed each other for what was happening; it divided them
and he could not tell them what had happened because of the
shame and pain and guilt. At times he would become so depressed
he would go into his own world, a dark abyss and his parents
could not understand. Their relationship was destroyed, and they
passed away never knowing what had happened.
It is still with him. It is still with the other children who
are adults now, because they trusted the priests and the
brothers who they thought were sent by god to guide them.
2:17:46 PM
MR. NAPOLEON asked them to hear out the victims of this sexual
abuse to help them feel cleansed. Since the telling of his
story, many have come forward to speak out. At least they can
speak out. He speaks out for his mother and father, whom he
loved very much.
He implored if you have children and this happened to your
children think how you would feel. No law would hold him back.
Please help take away the power from those who abused them.
Many of the people who were abused committed suicide because
they could not speak out. Many were his friends. He urged the
committee members to make sure this never happens to another
child.
2:24:50 PM
DELBERT ACOMAN, representing himself, Stebbins, AK, said he is
calling in support of SB 47 so people can come forward even
though their cases are old. During the summer of 1987 he was an
altar boy and his life was changed forever when he was abused by
Father Francis Nun. Father Francis said if he told anyone it
would be a sin and he would go to hell; he was afraid; he was 14
and did not know what to believe. Father Nun left a scar on his
private parts and every time he takes a shower he sees it and he
has to live with it. When he heard Mr. Napoleon speak he knew he
was not alone and he was right, it is a cancer; no one can take
it away. He was afraid to tell his parents for fear they would
hurt him.
2:29:23 PM
If there are people out there, they should speak out for their
peace of mind. After being abused, he continued as an altar boy;
now he lives in Stebbins, AK, and has worked for over 10 years
as a police officer; he has waited a long time for justice to be
done. How long can they wait? He thanked the committee for
hearing him and encouraged them to pass SB 47 so people can be
heard at last.
2:32:17 PM
JOELLE CASTEIX, Director, Southwest Region of SNAP, said she is
a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and in that role she has
worked with hundreds of sex abuse victims including with many in
the villages of Western Alaska. Carolyn Jessop wrote the book
"Escape" which chronicled her flight from the FLDS compound in
Colorado City. In her words, "Child sexual abuse is not about
religion; it's about crime." She said criminals seek
environments where they will not be caught and where a child's
fear, naiveté, lack of education and fear of punishment and
retribution will not only keep them quite, but keep them in the
dark about the crimes against them and their civil and criminal
rights. "Unfortunately, organizations like the Roman Catholic
Church provide the best haven for a predator to hone his skills.
Why? Because the organization knows, covers it up and the
predator is never punished."
MS. CASTEIX said she is here today because she is an example of
why a law like SB 47 works. She can show them how similar
California and Delaware laws have saved thousands of children
from abuse and have exposed predators across the state and the
country, aided law enforcement and prosecutors in numerous
states to put molesters behind bars and unearthed the cover-up
that shocked and disgusted the nation.
2:34:31 PM
She said this law will protect thousands of Alaska's vulnerable
children right now who will still be at risk if these predators
are not exposed. With a bill such as this, other victims will be
able to publicly expose their predators like she did, including
the men and women who covered up his criminal activities. She
has to be here for the children of Alaska, for herself and for
her son.
MS. CASTEIX said she came from an alcoholic home and suffered
from severe emotional disturbances because of the home life she
had to endure. Her high school and the church were her
sanctuaries. What she and her parents didn't know at the time
was that the school was a "den for sexual abuse." Eleven men at
the school, including the principal, the vice principal, two
choir directors and a cross country coach were credibly accused
and/or sued for abuse. She was molested by lay choir director,
Thomas Hodgeman who was told how vulnerable she was by the
previous director. Hodgeman took advantage of her and told her
that if she told anyone he would kill her and no one would
believe her anyway.
She was repeatedly raped by him from the time she was 15 until
she was 17 years old. Like many survivors, she couldn't go to
her parents even when her "panties were bloody and my body
bruised." She couldn't go to her friends who said that she
wanted it. When she went to the school vice principal, a woman,
but she was told "isn't it wonderful to be in love." She was
told to keep her secret because most people wouldn't understand
and that she might be sent to a psychiatric facility or that
perhaps the police would blame her and she would have to go to
juvenile hall.
She had no idea that Hodgeman was also molesting her friend,
Kristen, but the administrator knew. Before graduation she found
out she was pregnant and got an abortion. After the procedure,
the nurse told her she had a sexually transmitted disease that
could lead to cervical cancer and sterility. She spent the next
three months having growths burned off of her genitalia. "No one
called the police and no one told my parents."
When she finally told someone a few years later, she was blamed
for tempting Mr. Hodgeman. She was completely alienated from her
friends and family, all strong Catholics who blamed her for
seducing a man in his 30s. She was told she was going to hell;
but people didn't realize that she was already in hell. Like
most victims of childhood sexual abuse, she suffered endlessly
for the next 10 years. It seemed like there was no solution and
no way out.
One day she made a decision; she could die and let her abuser
win or she could heal and be the person that she always wanted
to be. She chose to live and got help; she forgave and forgot
her issues with her family and tried to move on, but somehow she
knew something was still horribly wrong with a place that told
kids to be quiet about sexual abuse. But she just couldn't prove
it.
In 2001, a boy who had abused by her high school principal sued
the diocese of Orange and won a $5.2 million settlement. She was
enraged when she heard the news because she couldn't believe
they had allowed it to happen to another child. So, she wrote a
letter to her high school and offered to help. In response, an
attorney from the diocese invited her lunch; she didn't tell her
she was a lawyer. This person said she had no records of her
allegations and that school officials had no idea that she had
been abused. She even doubted her claims - all the while
figuring out whether she had an active civil complaint. She said
that Ms. Casteix could serve on the diocese lay review board and
help the bishop and show the county that there was no other
abuse in the diocese. She seized the opportunity because she
thought she could make a difference.
During the next six months she was on the committee, they did
not review a single case. They were told to ignore press
reports. Instead they sat around a table and discussed how
horribly the clergy abuse scandal was for priests; their
religion and their power was used to impress, shame and silence
them.
2:39:23 PM
In fact, during the time she was board, at least 30 people came
forward to report abuse but the members were never told. She
learned that later from press reports. In the end, she used
California's landmark civil window to sue the church. It exposed
abuse and corruption that would have continued if it were not
for brave lawmakers in the civil courts. After two years of
mediation, stalling and mudslinging, 87 cases against the
Diocese of Orange were settled, but the financial settlement was
simply a slap on the wrist. The Diocese was debt-free less than
a year after the settlement. The true punishment and justice lay
in the 10,000 pages of files that exposed the scope and scale of
abuse and knowledge across the Diocese. They show that not only
did the church know about it, it showed that church officials
didn't care about kids; priests, clergy, volunteers and
employees were transferred, asked to resign and quietly hidden
and the kids had to pay the price.
Dozens of men were exposed grooming their target populations,
lying to parents and trying to infiltrate other organizations.
Most importantly, California, Arizona, Mexico and Nevada
children are safer because they exposed the predators who had
been allowed to go free.
MS. CASTEIX said she did it through a law like SB 47. In the
files from her case were quite a few interesting documents; one
is a signed confession by Hodgeman in which he admits to raping
her and her friend, Kristen; it's also signed by the principal
who never called the police. A backdated document signed by the
vice principal and Hodgeman saying that they knew about the
abuse a year earlier and did nothing. There is the letter
written by Principal, Father John Whalen, who says he reported
to child services, but her parents were never called and child
services has no record. SB 47 and its one-year window is that
window to the truth. Right now there is no other way possible to
force organizations to do the right thing. They were able to
expose 150 perpetrators that the church had tried to hide from
public disclosure. They exposed rings of priest shuffling
between California, Idaho, Arizona and Nevada, all the way to
Mexico. Last year in Delaware a two-year window law did the same
thing. Dozens of men have been exposed who are still working
schools, a multi-state conspiracy to protect men from
prosecution was exposed, and they have aided law enforcement in
three states to help put predators behind bars.
2:42:43 PM
MS. CASTEIX addressed three perceived challenges in the bill.
Opponents say that the bill will encourage false allegations,
but false allegations against clergy are rare. Father Patrick
Schlitz in Minnesota is the Catholic Church's number-one expert
in this field. For 20 years he has defended accused priests as a
lawyer. By his own count, he has handled more than 500 cases. On
August 28, 2002, he was asked by Sam Dillon of the New York
Times about false allegations and he said out of the 500 alleged
child molesting priests he represented, that less than three
were false allegations.
She said this law does not change the burden of proof victims
will be required to meet. They will have to meet the standards
that any civil lawsuit of this type requires.
Opponents say this law will force more organizations into
bankruptcy. To this allegation she stated:
If the only organizations declaring bankruptcy due to
this law are ones like the Jesuits in the Diocese of
Fairbanks who acknowledge that they allowed scores of
men to rape hundreds of children, that they refused to
stop it, and that they expect the state of Alaska to
clean up the mess and pay for services for their
victims, I think that bankruptcy reorganization is
pretty close to a free pass.
Opponents may say that lawsuits will take money away from other
services, vital services that these religious organizations
provide, but that doesn't make it right to "pass the trash" and
not be held accountable for crimes they have acknowledged
committing.
MS. CASTEIX said SB 47 will expose predators and those who
covered up for them. More than 150 perpetrators have been
exposed in California and Delaware. These are men and women who
escaped the criminal and civil statutes of limitations. Civil
windows allowed the victims to use the court system to publicly
name their abuser, warn communities and give younger victims the
strength to come forward and report within the criminal statute.
This bill will help law enforcement put serial molesters behind
bars.
Former priests, Michael Baker and Michael Wempy, are two of the
worst Pedophiles in California; both men escaped criminal
prosecution because their victims were abused too long ago. Due
to the California civil window, victims of both men were able to
pursue their cases in civil court, and when that happened, more
recent victims came forward within the limitation and proved
their crimes. These are younger victims who would never have the
bravery to come forward before and report their abuse to law
enforcement. Now those men and many other like them are behind
bars.
2:45:36 PM
Law enforcement in numerous other states including Pennsylvania,
South Carolina, Florida and Wisconsin, have used documents and
depositions in Delware's civil window cases to investigate and
prosecute predators including Robert Yergle and Paul DeLao.
Without these civil suites, these men never would have been
publicly exposed. If their victims name them publicly without
the backing of the courts, the abusers could have sued them for
slander, the media would have ignored victims' claims and more
kids would have been hurt and forced to suffer in silence.
This bill will help pay for services that before have fallen
onto the lap of Alaska's tax payers. She said:
I have seen the human wreckage in the villages. You
pay for police, jails, court costs, counseling,
parole, probation, poverty assistance, anger
management, physical abuse, substance abuse, mental
health care, hospitals, foster homes, child services,
life skills education, nutrition assistance,
unemployment, travel to essential services, death
benefits, and other needs that aid entire villages of
adults who were sexually abused as children. Why?
Because groups such as the Jesuits, the Diocese of
Fairbanks, and other organizations refuse to be
accountable and take responsibility for what they have
done.
And if even one predator is exposed at no expense to taxpayers,
isn't that worth it? As lawmakers it seems that they have only
one option - "to open the court house doors to sex crime victims
and let them access the time-tested civil justice system to
expose molesters, warn communities about the dangers these men
pose, and get them removed from jobs in teaching, coaching, and
in the ministry, and punish those who help them."
2:47:51 PM
MS. CASTEIX asked, at the end of the day who wins with the one-
year window? Men and women like her, victims who feel suicidal,
who will never get married, who will never have children, and
who desperately need in-patient drug and alcohol rehab. This
will benefit victims who can't sleep, who obsess over where
their predator is now, who he is molesting now and how they can
warn unsuspecting parents and neighbors about these dangerous
men. This will help parents who desperately want to know if
there is a child molester in their school or church or youth
group; and it will benefit law enforcement officials who know
lots of sexual predators escape detection and prosecution and
whose hearts ache for victims left out in the cold.
In "Escape" Carolyn Jessup advised that it took her until she
was 35 years old to escape religious indoctrination and realize
and understand that plural marriage, wife beating and a life of
imprisonment, were wrong, illegal and against her rights. If it
took her that long, she asked, can you imagine how long it takes
a victim of childhood sexual abuse to come to terms with the
pain and the shame only to find out that he or she has no legal
recourse to make sure that their predator never hurts another
child.
She said she would leave them with documents to help them in
their decision-making. They include the ones she has referenced
in her case as well as a list of the coalition behind Delaware's
two-year civil window. She also recommended two books: William
Lobdell's memoir "Losing My Religion: How I lost My Faith
Reporting on Religion in American and Found Peace" that includes
stories from the men and women at St. Michaels in Stebbins,
Alaska, with whom he spent three weeks, and "Escape" by Carolyn
Jessup.
MS. CASTEIX thanked the committee and encouraged them to support
this bill.
2:50:42 PM
CAREN ROBINSON, Alaskan Women's Lobby, said the purpose of the
organization is to defend and advance the rights and needs of
women and children. Most of these women here today have been
victims and have never had the right to have their perpetrator
tried or convicted or even to have their stories heard. They are
now hearing stories from people in their 80s and 90s about how
they were victims of sexual assault. "We must stand up for
them." We cannot let this wait another year; this bill was
before us last year; please don't let it come before us next
year. She summarized that SB 47 allows victims to tell their
stories, they can confront the perpetrator; this will put the
community on notice about the perpetrator and having the
perpetrator formally held accountable for his or her action may
provide relief to the victims and restore a sense of balance
that has been missing for a very long time.
She said she left the field in 1985, and in the last two years,
she had victims come forward who were abused by the Teen Center
director, a legislative staff person, the Big Brothers/Big
Sister director who was also the president of the School Board,
an assistant attorney general who was helping to redraft the
sexual assault laws, and probably the one that was most
egregious to her, the captain of the Police Department who was
the sole child sexual assault investigator for the whole 10
years she directed the AWARE shelter. In three of those cases
because of statute of limitations, their victims were not able
to get justice. She has no idea if victims would want to come
forward again and go through the civil courts, but they should
have that right.
2:54:28 PM
CHAIR DAVIS thanked her and announced the end of public
testimony.
2:55:07 PM
SENATOR DYSON said he knows more about this business than he
ever wanted to; many of the 20-some foster children his family
has had were sexually abused, and many of those stories didn't
have happy endings. He stated that certainly not all priests do
these things, not even most; and other religious groups have
been guilty of the same sort of stuff. Many authority figures
have exploited children in our communities; parents, step
parents and others who should protect children are often guilty.
He said that more parents, step-parents, boyfriends, relatives,
appear from current statistics to be molesting a lot more kids
than institutional leaders at this time. About a third of the
victims are boys. He also stated that health officials in this
state are under reporting according to his analysis; teachers
are doing pretty good. He reminded the members that many
children are not "forced" in typical violent sense, but are
seduced, and for everyone who speaks, hundreds are silent. All
of them deal with great shame.
He wanted to repeat to the victims who are here and who might be
listening, "You are not alone; it is not their fault. It's not
your shame. There is help; there is hope; and there is healing."
He knows many who have found healing and a healthy life. "Don't
give up."
SENATOR DYSON moved to report SB 47 from committee with
individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). There
being no objection, the motion carried.
2:59:59 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Davis adjourned the meeting at 2:59 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|