Efforts Underway to Strengthen Lawsuits Against Sexual Predators

Following the dismissal of the deep pockets in lawsuits against institutions accused of allowing sexual abuse of children to continue in secret, lawyers and lawmakers are teaming up to toughen Georgia's Hidden Predator Act in the next legislative session.

Plaintiffs attorneys are gathering with legislators at the Capitol for a news conference Aug. 2 at 9:30 a.m. to discuss strengthening the current Hidden Predator Act. The law opened a window for survivors of childhood sexual abuse to file lawsuits without being shut down by the statute of limitations. Several plaintiffs attorneys filed lawsuits before the July 1 deadline.

But earlier this month, Cobb County Superior Court Judge LaTain Kell dismissed the defendants with the most ability to pay the Boy Scouts of America and the First Baptist Church of Gainesville, ruling that the law exempted the institutions from liability and leaving only individual scout and church leaders in the case.

"I am holding this press conference in light of the recent developments regarding litigation implicating child sexual abuse cover-ups by various organizations," said Rep. Jason Spencer, R-Woodbine, the primary author of the Hidden Predator Act, in a news release. "The details of these cases highlight the need for new and tougher changes to the current Hidden Predator Act. It is necessary that we address many of the injustices uncovered in recent child sexual abuse litigation and the short comings of a shortened statute of limitations."

House Bill 605, the Hidden Predator Act of 2018, will update the current Hidden Predator Act law "so that organizations who knowingly covered up child sexual abuse do not escape justice," Spencer announced. He said co-sponsors of the bill will be present also, including: Reps. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur; Paulette Rakestraw, R-Hiram; Spencer Frye, D-Athens; and David Dreyer, D-Atlanta. Rep. Buzz Brockway, R-Lawrenceville, also is a co-sponsor of the legislation but will not be attending the press conference.

Spencer said the group will include plaintiffs and attorneys who filed some of the lawsuits. He mentioned Esther Panitch of the Panitch Law Group and Natalie Woodward of Shamp Speed Jordan Woodward, plaintiffs counsel in the lawsuit against a scout leader in the case before Kell.

Darren Penn of Penn Law is involved in the work on the bill and said he plans to be at the Capitol Aug. 2. Penn has recently filed lawsuits alleging sexual abuse of children against the Boy Scouts of America and a church in Athens, as well as several against the Darlington School in northwest Georgia.

Also on the list of lawyers involved is Jeb Butler of Butler Tobin, who recently filed a lawsuit in Columbus on behalf of a woman who claims her pastor sexually abused her starting when she was 15.

Emma Hetherington, director of the University of Georgia Law School's Wilbanks Child Endangerment and Sexual Exploitation (CEASE) clinic will be at the Capitol as well, Spencer said.