Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Don’t lose hope in
pursuing a past crimeQuestion: I was sexually abused by a priest more than 25 years ago and am undergoing therapy. I had hoped to file a lawsuit against the Catholic Church to pay for therapy, since it's not covered by insurance, but was told that the civil statute of limitations has expired. However, I have since seen reports in your newspaper about similar cases that happened much earlier. Was I given the wrong advice?
Answer: "The issue of the statute of limitations is very fact-specific to each individual case," said Philip R. Brown, the attorney representing Alexander Winchester in a civil lawsuit filed July 31 against the Hawaii Catholic Diocese. Winchester claims he was sexually molested by a priest in 1961, when he was 11 years old.
Brown said no one should give up just because a long period has passed without first consulting with a lawyer who can evaluate all aspects of a case.
"The issue isn't simply how long has passed, but when did the statute of limitations begin to run," he said.
Ascertaining that date is the difficult key to determine in each case, depending on whether it can be based on when the victim reached the age of majority (18) or whether it can be placed sometime after adulthood is reached, when psychological injury or illness is discovered. The statute of limitations also may vary from state to state.
As for criminal prosecutions, the statute of limitations is detailed in the Hawaii Penal Code (Hawaii Revised Statutes 701-108). There is more leeway allowed for sexual assault victims who are or were minors.
Generally speaking, according to city deputy prosecutor Rom Trader, this is how it breaks down: murder and attempted murder -- no statute of limitations; Class A felony (punishable by up to 20 years in prison) -- six years from the time the crime was committed; Class B or C felony (punishable by up to 10 and five years in prison, respectively) -- three years; and misdemeanor -- two years.
However, there are exceptions, Trader said, including for sexual assault cases involving minors.
Before the law was amended in June 1995, calculating the statute of limitations was "simply a matter of math and calendar days," Trader said. But after that, an exception was made "to acknowledge that many children won't report a molestation until years later."
If a child was molested after June 1995, then the statute of limitations would not begin until the victim turned 18, he said. But if it occurred prior to 1995, the pre-1995 law would have to be calculated into the formula.
Trader acknowledged that calculating the time frame is confusing. He explains it this way: "Under the best set of circumstances, the absolute maximum, as far as I can see it, we would be able to go back to (to prosecute someone for sexually assaulting a child) is June of 1989 on a Class A felony."
That would allow for the six-year statute of limitations in effect for such a case before 1995.
"We have the ability in some rare cases to go back much farther than the statute of limitations traditionally is, but it's not a real common or easy sort of thing to do," Trader said.
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