By Barbara Goldberg
NEW YORK, Dec 24 (Reuters) – Experts say 2012 was a year of
unparalleled justice for child sex abuse victims, but whether
the string of high-profile convictions will translate into a
turning point for juvenile safety remains to be seen.
The year’s headlines heralded the criminal convictions of
former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky, Monsignor
William Lynn of the Catholic Church’s Philadelphia Archdiocese
and ultra-Orthodox Jewish therapist Nechemya Weberman, a
prominent figure in New York’s Satmar Hasidic sect.
Sandusky, 68, was sentenced to spend the rest of his life
behind bars for raping and molesting 10 boys, some in the campus
football showers. Lynn, 61, was ordered to prison for up to six
years for covering up for pedophile priests. Weberman, 54, faces
up to 25 years’ imprisonment when he is sentenced on Jan. 9 for
sexually abusing a girl during counseling sessions.
Each conviction hinged on the testimony of victims brave
enough to shatter years of silence surrounding the abuse. Each
verdict was reached by a jury determined to decide fairly in the
shadow of a revered institution that, at best, ignored the
crimes, sometimes for years.
“2012 is a landmark in the drive to reduce and deter
community-based abuse,” said Marci Hamilton, a law professor at
Yeshiva University and an advocate for victims of clergy sex
crimes.
“The key here is modern-day courage,” Hamilton said. “It
took extraordinary courage for survivors to break ranks from
their communities and accuse those inside the community.”
Decades of secretiveness have shrouded child sex abuse
within institutions that turned a blind eye, said David
Clohessy, director of Survivors Network of those Abused by
Priests (SNAP).
One development encouraging victims to come forward today is
more women in law enforcement and criminal justice who may seem
more approachable, experts say. Another is a growing acceptance
of homosexuality, which could help ease the victims’
humiliation, and the idea that survivors with calamitous lives
may nevertheless be telling the truth, experts say.
“We’re learning that victims inevitably seem troubled and
flawed. It’s very rare that someone can be sexually violated as
a child and live a charmed, perfect life,” Clohessy said.
Heightened publicity has also drawn out victims who now know
they are not alone, said David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes
Against Children Research Center at the University of New
Hampshire.
“The climate is so much better for survivors than it was a
decade ago when they felt isolated and like a freak,” Finkelhor
said.
“Almost everyone knows this happens to other people now.
It’s not nearly as stigmatizing,” he said.
The momentum in prosecuting child sex abuse cases depends
upon many factors, including whether state legislatures broaden
the time frame for victims seeking justice, a move under
discussion in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and
Pennsylvania.
By the time a child victim is able to confront an assailant,
a state’s statute of limitations may prevent prosecution. If
victims are still eligible to file civil lawsuits, however, the
surrounding publicity may draw out other victims and could lead
to subsequent criminal prosecutions, advocates say.
“When a predator is exposed in any way, in any form, it
encourages victims, witnesses, whistle-blowers to step forward
and perhaps file criminal charges,” Clohessy said.
“Obviously, kids are safest when predators are jailed,” he
said. “Sometimes civil suits lead to criminal prosecution. Even
when they don’t, they warn people about a potentially dangerous
child molester.”
(Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Dale Hudson)
