Howard Friedman, Religion Clause
In Honolulu last Thursday, the first lawsuit was filed under a Hawaii law that became effective in April (full text) giving a one-time 2-year window for filing of claims of sexual abuse against minors, even though the statute of limitations has otherwise run. According to AP, the lawsuit was brought on behalf a man claiming sexual abuse by a priest at an all-boys Catholic school’s overnight retreat in the 1980s when plaintiff was 13-years old. The suit claims that accused priest Gerald Funcheon was allowed unsupervised access to children at Damien Memorial School even though reports had been made to his order about inappropriate sexual conduct toward minors.