On Aug. 14, 2018, the Pennsylvania Attorney General released the 40th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury Report, identifying more than 300 former and current Roman Catholic priests determined to be credibly accused of sexual abuse. In the two and a half years since its release, the report has sparked a wave of judicial and legislative efforts to revive time-barred claims of sexual abuse. The plaintiffs in nearly 300 cases statewide have asked courts to extend the statute of limitations for civil sexual abuse claims, using the discovery rule, fraudulent concealment doctrine or the tort of civil conspiracy as the vehicles to do so. Others have lobbied the Pennsylvania General Assembly to amend the statute of limitations via a constitutional amendment or the adoption of the so-called “window” legislation.

Although the amendment process was dealt a setback last month after it was revealed that the Pennsylvania Department of State failed to follow the required public notice provisions relating to a proposed constitutional amendment, religious organizations, institutions and nonprofits should nonetheless proactively anticipate the future opening of a litigation window. Otherwise, those entities risk finding themselves wholly unprepared for the daunting task of defending decades old claims of sexual abuse.

Minority Tolling Statute and Application of Discovery Rule

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