OGDENSBURG -- Terry R. LaValley, bishop of the Diocese of Ogdensburg, says he believes there is a misunderstanding as to his position on a new state law that would eliminate the statute of limitations for sex crimes against minors.

On Tuesday, LaValley said through Ogdensburg Diocese Communications Director Darcy Fargo that he wants to “set the record straight on his position on the Child Victims Act” and that he supports eliminating the statute of limitations but opposes a window to revive claims where the statute of limitations has expired under current law.

The Child Victims Act, according to its summary on the New York State Senate website, “eliminates the statutes of limitation for prosecuting child sexual abuse crimes and filing civil lawsuits for damages against individuals, public institutions, and private institutions related to child sexual abuse. This act also creates a one-year revival period for previously time-barred civil actions which alleged conduct representing the commission of certain sexual offenses committed against a child less than eighteen years of age.”

“There is a lot of misunderstanding about where the New York State bishops stand on the various versions of the Child Victims Act,” LaValley said in the prepared statement.

“Over the last decade, the New York State Catholic Conference, which represents the bishops of New York, worked with politicians on both sides of the aisle to propose the elimination of the criminal statute of limitations for the sexual abuse of minors. Additionally, we bishops have supported raising the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits in cases involving the sexual abuse of a minor.

“The widely reported notion that the Catholic Church has opposed all provisions contained in the various versions of the Child Victims Act is simply not accurate.”

Recently, Cardinal Timothy Dolan wrote about the Child Victims Act in an op-ed piece in the New York Daily News. He noted that the New York bishops feel it is important to make the Child Victims Act focus on healing and helping survivors of child sexual abuse. Elimination of the criminal statutes of limitations and the conditions precedent of notices of claim for civil claims against public entities are a big step in helping survivors, and the bishops have supported and continue to support these measures. The bishops have also supported requiring background checks and safe environment training as part of the Act, according to the news release.

“We are doing these things in the church already,” LaValley said in his statement.

The release notes that there have been some provisions in the proposed legislation that the bishops have opposed. The first is the inclusion of a window that would revive claims that are currently barred by the statute of limitations.

“Opposition to the revival of claims has been based on the fact that after the passage of time, it can be difficult or impossible for an institution that employed an accused abuser to get to the truth, and it is hard to achieve justice in such circumstances,” the release says.

“Litigation is not easy on the survivors or the accused, especially after the passage of decades,” LaValley said in his statement. “The eight dioceses of New York have all undertaken reconciliation and compensation programs to help victims heal.”

Statewide, these programs have paid out more than $200 million dollars to more than 1,000 victims, with some cases going back 60 years, according to the Ogdensburg Diocese. The Ogdensburg Diocese has named about two dozen priests who they say have been “credibly accused” of sexually abusing a minor or vulnerable adult. More about that is here.

“The compensation programs have worked well,” LaValley said in his prepared statement. “In our diocese we had 39 victims participate and all of them accepted the compensation offered. Many reported that the program brought them healing and peace. The programs were not adversarial like litigation is. It is a much better approach.”

The bishops also opposed the fact that most proposed versions of the Child Victims Act do not include all victims. This remains the case, the diocese said.

“If the law is going to include a window to revive claims, it should revive all claims,” LaValley said.

The bishops point out that under Gov. Cuomo’s current proposal, lifting the statute of limitations will allow time-barred claims to be brought against private organizations, but not against public or governmental organizations, according to the diocese.

“The proposed legislation we have seen in the past did not retroactively remove the requirement of a notice of claim. Under those circumstances, a victim abused by a teacher in a private school could bring a claim, but a student abused by a teacher in a public school could not,” LaValley said. “We have to ensure that any legislation provides equal justice for all victims.”

“Child sexual abuse is a terrible crime. The bishops of New York have taken great steps to eliminate this evil from the Church over the past 20 years, and we have seen documented success,” said Bishop LaValley. “We have reached out to victims to offer healing and compensation. We have shown great concern to victims. We will support any legislation that protects young people, gives them justice, and includes all victims.”