Burns supports 20-year friend in quest for statute of limitations reform
Stands with child sex abuse victim Shaun Dougherty at Capitol news conference
Rep. Frank Burns September 27, 2016 | 2:34 PM
HARRISBURG, Sept. 27 – After a March grand jury report documented widespread child sex abuse in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese, state Rep. Frank Burns was still trying to fathom the magnitude of a decades-long cover-up when Shaun Dougherty, a friend of more than 20 years, called him to detail his experience as one of the victims.
“My heart dropped and I was speechless,” Burns recounted at a Capitol news conference held today to push for statute of limitations reform in such cases. Dougherty also wanted to know how close this change was to becoming law, telling Burns, “I don’t know if I want to come forward unless this has a real legitimate chance at passing.”
In the face of a sickening pattern of abuse that included his friends like Dougherty and his classmates at Bishop McCort High School, Burns resolved to support the reform effort led by state Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-Berks, who hosted today’s event to help press for the House to again take up H.B. 1947 – which the House passed earlier this year but which saw key changes in the Senate-approved version of the bill, including stripping out the retroactive component.
“I could not sit there and do nothing,” Burns said. “Leaders in the past had done nothing. And that’s why we’re here (seeking justice) today. I promise each and every one of you: we will fight for you, and together we can change the world.”
Dougherty, 46 and a U.S. Navy veteran, said the retroactive component of Rozzi’s statute of limitations reform bill is critically needed so that people like him can seek justice and so children can be protected.
“I deserve my chance in a court of law,” Dougherty said. “The process is what we are after; I am not after money. (This change) will outlive me. It will protect children, which is what we are here to do.”
Burns said he told Dougherty back in March that this was a ripe opportunity to change the law, and encouraged him to come forward with his story. “I’m honored to have Shaun Dougherty here,” Burns said.