Governor Tom Wolf, joined by Attorney General Josh Shapiro, bill sponsors Reps. Mark Rozzi, Todd Stephens, and Jim Gregory; legislators; advocates and survivors of childhood sexual abuse, signed three bills that mirror the Grand Jury’s recommendations after its investigation into child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy. “After tireless and passionate work on the part of so many, especially countless brave victims, these bills will today become law, and victims of one of the most unimaginable forms of abuse will receive the support and rights they deserve,” Gov. Wolf said. “And while we celebrate the monumental victory of many survivors of childhood sexual abuse finally receiving their opportunity for justice, we must continue pushing forward until every survivor, of every age, has the chance to tell his or her story.” “These reforms fundamentally change our justice system and will protect generations of children who experience abuse from this day on,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said. “While we still must address justice for those survivors who made this day possible, seeing this progress gives me hope that bravery and activism will win over entrenched interests and powerful institutions.” Gov. Wolf signed these bills: House Bill 962 , sponsored by Rep. Mark Rozzi, abolishes Pennsylvania’s criminal statute of limitations on childhood sexual abuse and extends the timeline victims have to file civil action Read more
HARRISBURG, Pa. - A Pennsylvania lawmaker who has told of his victimization as a child by a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Allentown said he'll keep fighting for legislation to allow onetime-child sexual abuse victims to sue for damages. Read more
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Pennsylvania lawmaker who has told of his victimization as a child by a Roman Catholic priest said Tuesday that he will keep fighting for legislation to allow onetime-child sexual abuse victims to sue for damages, despite the measure’s rejection in the Senate as the legislative session winds down. Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-Berks, is backed by top House lawmakers, victim advocates and both major party candidates for state attorney general — Republican John Rafferty and Democrat Josh Shapiro — as part of wider legislation to respond to child sexual abuse cover-ups. The provision would revive the ability of people to sue for damages if they are now older than the current legal age limit of 30 to sue. It is opposed by the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference and the Insurance Federation of Pennsylvania, which represents for-profit insurers. Jennifer Storm, the state’s victim advocate, said that the provision is the right thing to do for victims and that she did not want to have to tell age-limited victims, “sorry, today is not your day,” if the Legislature decides against helping them. Read more
House lawmakers are, once again, picking up a bill that would make it easier for victims in child sex abuse cases to sue their abusers. Early this summer, a Senate panel amended the legislation to get rid of its retroactivity clause, which would have allowed victims to take legal action on assaults dating back decades. But advocates now say they want the original version, or nothing. Representative Mark Rozzi, a Berks County Democrat, is both the bill's primary sponsor and a survivor of child sex abuse by a priest. He said the Senate's changes were unacceptable. Read more
In April, the state House passed a bill to extend the statute of limitations in child sex abuse cases, which also would have given past victims of abuse more time to file a civil suit. The Senate sent it back without the retroactive clause. Now, a state lawmaker from Berks County is vowing to get the retroactivity back in the proposal. Six of Pennsylvania's eight Catholic dioceses, including the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, are now under investigation by the state Attorney General's office for possible clergy sex abuse. The new probes are spurring advocates like Democratic Representative Mark Rozzi of Berks County to push harder for passage of legislation to allow past victims to sue. He says he believes the House will stand united, as it did earlier this year. But if they can't get the measure passed with the retroactive measure included this session, he will introduce the same bill again in January. "I'm not going to sit there, pat myself on the back for half a loaf when we have children in this commonwealth suffering this horrific sexual abuse that goes on," he says. Rozzi says if senators refuse to help past victims, they will have to deal with the consequences from the public. Read more
With the fate of a child sex-abuse bill on the line in Harrisburg, clergy sex-abuse victims and their relatives told their stories Tuesday as part of a renewed push to change Pennsylvania law so victims can sue for decades-old attacks. A bill that passed the House in April would have, among other things, expanded the statute of limitations so victims age 50 and under could sue the men or women who abused them decades ago, as well as the institutions that supervised them. Citing concerns about its constitutionality and after critics, notably the Catholic Church, warned the measure could unfairly cripple some parishes, the Senate removed that provision. Read more
PHILADELPHIA, PA National advocates for victims of child sexual abuse don't find it a coincidence that Pennsylvania has been home to some of the most notorious abuse scandals. The state's time limits for victims to pursue lawsuits or criminal charges, known as statutes of limitation, are on the more-restrictive side. And that signals to pedophiles that it's a safe place to abuse kids, advocates for victims said. Read more
"We have a right to justice," Rozzi said. "It is time for anybody in our way to get out of our way and open that door to justice." Rozzi was joined by Phil Saviano, a leading activist within the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), and Eric MacLeish, a Boston attorney who represented hundreds of victims abused by priests. Both were featured in "Spotlight." Several sexual abuse victims from Pennsylvania also spoke. Read more
Days after confirming a statewide grand jury investigation into six Catholic dioceses, including Harrisburg, State Rep. Mark Rozzi stood with survivors of clergy sex abuse in Philadelphia to issue a call to action. Rozzi and others spoke in support of statute of limitations reform that includes a retroactive provision to allow adults who were victims of childhood sexual abuse to seek justice. Rozzi said a retroactive provision that was included in House Bill 1947, which would reform the statute of limitations for civil action in Pennsylvania, was "gutted" by the Senate during the last legislative session. Rozzi said he hopes to reintroduce the legislation with the retroactive provision during the next legislative session. Read more
PHILADELPHIA - A Berks County lawmaker said Tuesday that victims of clergy abuse should be able to seek justice at any age. Pennsylvania Rep. Mark Rozzi, a victim of child sexual abuse by a priest, joined several other victims and child abuse experts at a conference of the National Center for Victims of Crime in Philadelphia. Rozzi has been making headlines as of late after talking about his own experience. He revealed to 69 News last week that he was called to testify before a grand jury about clergy abuse within the Diocese of Allentown, which includes the five-county region of Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton and Schuylkill. Read more
State Rep. Mark Rozzi said his phone has been ringing off the hook since he announced Thursday that a grand jury investigation is underway into alleged sexual abuse in the Allentown and Harrisburg Catholic dioceses. "It's been pretty insane," Rozzi said Fridy of the response. "So far it's been a lot of positive feedback, and I've been getting emails from people throughout the state saying thank you." Rozzi revealed Thursday that he was subpoenaed by the state attorney general's office three months ago and testified in the middle of August before a grand jury about his claims that an Allentown Diocese priest raped him when he was a middle school student in 1984. Read more
Pennsylvania Rep. Mark Rozzi recently testified before a grand jury that's investigating clergy sexual abuse within Catholic churches across Pennsylvania, he said Thursday. Rozzi, who was sexually abused by a priest with the Diocese of Allentown when he was an altar boy, told WFMZ-TV 69 that "people are going to be really, really shocked" when the Pennsylvania Attorney General uncovers their findings. Read more
Speaking to PennLive on Friday, Rozzi said he gave his testimony to investigators about a month ago in Pittsburgh. Included in his testimony, he said, was information on his own abuse by a priest as a 13-year-old and his assessment of the fate of House Bill 1947, which reforms the statute of limitations. Victim advocates say the bill was dealt a blow by the Senate when the chamber voted to amend it and strip from it measures that would have given legal recourse to victims of past abuse. Read more
Prosecutors from the state attorney general's office have been conducting grand jury interviews with alleged sexual assault victims in the Allentown and Harrisburg Catholic dioceses, a Berks County lawmaker said. State Rep. Mark Rozzi said Thursday that he was subpoenaed by the grand jury three months ago to come and testify about his rape at the hands of an Allentown Diocese priest while he was a middle school student in 1984. He said he testified before the grand jury in Pittsburgh in the middle of August. Read more
The Pennsylvania attorney general's office is looking into allegations of abuse by priests in the Allentown Diocese as part of a bigger statewide investigation, a lawmaker who was called to testify told The Morning Call on Thursday. Read more
Dear Friends, Over the summer, I supported the passage of a state budget that funds education at record levels, without a broad-based tax increase. I will be the first to admit that this budget is far from perfect, but it is a solid step in the right direction, especially for our students and homeowners. After the protracted impasse of last year, it is refreshing to see this compromise, especially as it contains historic education funding that should help slow the increase of property taxes as we fight for a more comprehensive solution for homeowners. Read more
One state politician is glad Bruce Castor will not be acting as Pennsylvania’s attorney general for long. State Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-Berks, sent out a press release Thursday applauding Gov. Tom Wolf’s decision to quickly appoint a replacement for resigned AG Kathleen Kane. Wolf named Bruce Beemer, Kane’s former first deputy, who left in July to become Wolf’s inspector general. He testified in Kane’s perjury and abuse of power trial. Read more
When the movie “Spotlight” won the Academy Award for Best Picture in February, no one could imagine what that foretold for our legislative efforts to reform Pennsylvania’s archaic and arbitrary statute of limitations laws for survivors of child sexual abuse. Read more
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is learning that while a key aspect of House Bill 1947 might be going away, its biggest booster is not. State Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-126th Dist., of Berks County, the man who authored the controversial language in the bill that would have retroactively extended the window for victims of child sexual abuse that occurred decades ago to sue the molesters and those that employed them, took his case to the church this week. Read more
Standing with others who had been abused by Catholic clergy, State Rep. Mark Rozzi hurled stacks of grand jury reports onto the steps of the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul on Monday, and loudly vowed to continue trying to change Pennsylvania law so victims like himself can file suit in decades-old cases. Read more
HARRISBURG, July 1 – Three regional conservation, watershed protection and civic improvement groups will receive $470,000 in state investments for their ongoing efforts to protect and enhance the outdoor experience for Berks County residents. Sen. Judy Schwank and Reps. Thomas Caltagirone and Mark Rozzi said the Commonwealth Financing Authority today approved grants for: Implementation of the Berks County Conservancy’s Angelica Park master plan, $200,000; Recreation Commission of the Antietam Valley, Carsonia Park Improvement Project and Watershed Restoration Project, $215,000; Berks County Community Foundation, 18 th W.O.N.D.E.R. Neighborhood Improvement Project, $55,000. "All three of these projects are especially significant because they not only will vastly improve regional recreational resources and preserve the local environment, but also because they are the result of remarkable cooperation among a diverse array of elected and appointed officials and community-based organizations and agencies," Schwank said following CFA’s approval of the new investments. "I am just as grateful for the dedication, passion and vision of the many people who work for these groups and strive to improve the quality of life for all Berks Countians." "These grant awards are great news for the city of Reading and surrounding communities," Caltagirone said. "Everyone who worked so hard to put together such high-quality Read more
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