Hide Transcript Show Transcript

WEBVTT TEMPERATURES COLD. STEVE: GOOD EVENING, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. SHOULD THE CLOCK EVER RUN OUT TO FILE CHARGES AGAINST CHILD SEX PREDATORS? SOME IOWA LAWMAKERS SAY NO. STACEY: NEW AT 10:00. KCCI’S LAURA TERRELL SHOWS US THE IMPACT THIS COULD HAVE O DECADES-OLD ABUSE CASE >> BYLAWS ARE TERRIBLE. WE SHOULDN’T BE A SANCTUARY STATE FOR PATTERNS AND ORGANIZATIONS THAT SYSTEMICALLY COVER UP THE CRIME. LAURA: STATE SENATOR JANET PETERSEN SAYS IT’S TIME FOR IOWA TO MAKE A MAJOR CHANGE TO PROTECT SURVIVORS OF CHILD SEX ABUSE. THAT’S WHY SHE’S INTRODUCED T BILLS. ONE WOULD END THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR FILING CRIMINAL CHARGES, THE OTHER WOULD END IT FOR TRYING TO COLLECT DAMAGES IN A CIVIL LAWSUIT. >> IF YOU ARE ABUSED AS A CHILD IN ON THE HAVE UNTIL YOU ARE 19 YEARS OLD TO GO AFTER THE ORGANIZATION THAT COVERED UP THE CRIME. LAURA: ON MONDAY, THE DIOCESE OF SIOUX CITY RELEASED THE NAMES OF 28 PRIESTS IT SAYS WERE CREDIBLY ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ABUSING MINORS DECADES AGO. ONLY ONE FORMER PRIEST IS STILL ALIVE AND LIVING IN IOWA JOHN PATRICK PERDUE. KCCI UNCOVERED A LAWSUIT PERDUE’S VICTIM FILED IN 2008. HE WAS NEVER CRIMINALLY CHARGED. >> IT WAS A GROOMING PROCESS. LAURA: WEST DES MOINES ATTORNEY PATRICK HOPKINS REPRESENTED THE VICTIM AT THE TIME. THE DOCUMENTS SAY PERDUE ASSIGNED TO A PARISH IN CARROLL IN THE EARLY 1980’S, PERFORMED A SEX ACT ON THE 18-YEAR-OLD. BUT A JUDGE THREW OUT THE CASE , CITING THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS WAS. HOPKINS SAY THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM HE SEES. >> EVERY DAY. EVERY DAY. LAURA: THE VICTIM SAID IN THE LAWSUIT THAT IT TOOK SO LONG FOR HIM TO COME FORWARD BECAUSE IT WASN’T UNTIL A THERAPEUTIC BREAKTHROUGH IN 2006 THAT HE MADE THE CONNECTION BETWEEN HIS DEPRESSION AND THE ABUSE HE HAD REPRESSE >> I HAVE SEEN CASE AFTER CASE OF ISLANDS WHO AT THE TIME -- OF IOWANS WHO ARE THE TIME ARE ABLE TO ARTICULATE WHAT TRANSPIRED, THEIR TIME LIMIT IS UP. LAURA: THE IOWA CATHOLIC CONFERENCE OPPOSES BOTH OF PETERSEN’S BILLS TO GET RID OF STATUTES OF LIMITATION. THE PUBLIC POLICY AGENCY OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS SAYS THE PASSAGE OF TIME MAKES IT VERY DIFFICULT FOR ANY ACCUSED PERSON OR INSTITUTION TO DEFEND THEMSELVES PETERSEN’S BILLS HAVE NOT MADE IT OUT OF SUBCOMMITTEE YET. AND WE WANT TO POINT OUT THIS IS THE ONLY ACCUSATION AGAINST PERDUE. THERE WERE NO CRIMINAL CHARGES EVER FILED. I TALKED WITH A MAN TODAY WHO SAYS HE IS THE SAME JOHN PATRICK PERDUE IN THE LAWSUIT AND HE DENIES ALL THE ALLEGAT

Advertisement Clergy abuse sheds light on statute of limitations debate Share Shares Copy Link Copy

The Senate minority leader has introduced new measures that would give child sex abuse survivors more time to come forward, saying Iowa should not be a “sanctuary state” for predators.State Sen. Janet Petersen, a Democrat from Des Moines, introduced two bills tackling the issue -- one that would end the statute of limitations for filing criminal charges and another that would end it for trying to collect damages in a civil lawsuit.“If you were abused as a child, you only have until your 19th birthday to go after the organization that covered the crime,” Petersen said. “Our laws are terrible. We should not be a sanctuary state for predators, and organizations cover up this crime.” The Diocese of Sioux City on Monday identified 28 priests who were credibly accused of having sexually abused more than 100 boys and girls. Only one former priest, John Patrick Perdue, is still alive and living in Iowa. The Iowa Court of Appeals in 2011 dismissed lawsuits filed against Perdue and another priest by two alleged victims, ruling that the statute of limitations had expired. “There was a grooming process,” said West Des Moines attorney Patrick Hopkins, who represented a victim at the time. Perdue, who was assigned to a parish in Carroll in the early 1980s, performed a sex act on the 18-year-old, according to court documents. There were no criminal charges filed against Perdue, who told KCCI that he denies all the allegations. RELATED: Diocese list of 28 accused priests yields only 1 still living in IowaIowa diocese identifies 28 priests accused of abusing minorsThat the statute of limitations had expired is a problem Hopkins said he sees “every day.”The victim said in the lawsuit that it took so long for him to come forward because it wasn’t until a “therapeutic breakthrough” in 2006 that he made the connection between his depression and the abuse he had repressed.“I have seen case after case of Iowans who, at the time, aren't able to articulate what transpired,” Petersen said. “The time limit is up, and they’re not able to go after the perpetrator.”The Iowa Catholic Conference opposes the legislation to get rid of statutes of limitation. The public policy agency of Catholic bishops said, “The passage of time makes it difficult for any accused person or institution to defend themselves.”Petersen’s bills have not made it out of subcommittee.