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There is yet another story about allegations of sexual abuse by a priest, this time leveled against a prominent Manhattan cleric. There was a paragraph in the NY1 story which was all too familiar.
The matter was handed over to the Manhattan district attorney's office. The D.A.'s office said that the original accusation, along with another it uncovered, are both outside the statue of limitations for sex abuse. As a result, the pastor will not be charged.
Why is it that almost all of the allegations we read about are involving events that happened so long ago the priests can not be prosecuted? Should we seriously entertain the notion that priests stopped raping kids a years ago?
Or, does this suggest that the Catholic Church is exerting a lot of pressure to keep the focus on the distant past?
I'm sure the abuse is still occuring--human nature and all. But another perspective is that these older cases are coming up simply because the victims are now adults and willing to tell their story. Younger victims might be less willing to come forward.
And the church might be doing some PR damage control, too. It's one thing to hear about a 30-year old abused when he was 15 but something totally different to hear about abuse of a 15-year-old happening right now.
But the more we hear, the better. This shouldn't be happening.