Pennsylvania Community Secretary Kathy Boockvar (D) said she would step down later in the week after her office did not adequately publish a proposed constitutional amendment to expand the civil prosecution window for alleged victims of child sexual abuse.
The amendment would give claimants two years to file civil suits, according to The Wall Street Journal. State law requires that the proposed amendments be approved first by the state legislature during consecutive sessions before being presented directly to voters as a voting initiative.
The State Department is required by law to place advertisements in newspapers describing the proposed changes.
While lawmakers approved the measure for the first time in 2019 and were about to approve it again in 2020, the state department was unable to place the ads, according to the newspaper. This means that the amendment process must start from the beginning, unless lawmakers approve a bill creating the same two-year gap.
“The delay caused by this human error will be painful for thousands of survivors of child sexual violence, advocates and lawmakers, and I join the State Department to apologize to you. I share your anger and frustration that this has happened and I am at your side in your fight for justice ”, Governor Tom Wolf
Tom WolfPennsylvania, Lieutenant Governor, to challenge the weed ban, LGBTQ Rights flags Republicans plan to reform the vote after Biden’s victory. (D), who announced Boockvar’s resignation, said in a statement.
The department also apologized on Monday for its carelessness, calling it “simple human error” in a statement. Boockvar was appointed by Wolf in January 2019 after previously serving as Wolf’s senior adviser in modernizing election procedures.
Other states, including New York, have similar laws on books, which has spawned a series of lawsuits against institutions, including the Boy Scouts of America and the Catholic Church.
State Representative Mark Rozzi (D), an advocate of the measure that alleged sexual abuse by a priest as a teenager, said there was still a chance that the proposal would reach the May primary. “I am shocked that this has happened, but we have persevered for all these years and we will continue to do just that. I will not give up on the fight until this is done, period, ”he told the WSJ.