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	Valley May Get Support Group for Victims of Abuse by Priests Senate, House Bills Would Eliminate Statute of Limitations for Abuse By Laura B. Martinez Brownsville Herald [Brownsville TX] March 31, 2005 Discussions are under way for the establishment of a local chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. Miguel Prats, state coordinator for the Texas chapters, said he has been in "serious discussions" with victims of abuse for setting up a Rio Grande Valley chapter. "The chances are good that we will have a chapter, but there is a lot to starting a SNAP chapter," Prats said in a telephone interview from Houston. "When I’m dealing with victims, I have to give them plenty of space. … We have already been through hell and back." SNAP is a volunteer self-help organization comprised of survivors of clergy sexual abuse and the survivors’ supporters. Its mission is to support one another by healing and by pursuing justice and institutional change by holding perpetrators responsible and the church accountable, according to its mission statement. Prats said the discussion of a Valley Chapter began less than two weeks ago following the March 16 publication of a story of former Monsignor Ivan M. Rovira’s alleged abuse of two boys that happened 24 years ago. The alleged incident occurred when Rovira was working as a priest in the upper Valley. The victims came forward and filed complaints with the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville in 2002. Shortly after, Rovira was discharged from the diocese. "This is not just a Catholic problem," it happens within other religions, too, Prats said. Starting a SNAP chapter in the Valley has been difficult because of the Hispanic culture, Prats said. Many Hispanics consider it taboo to speak ill of the Catholic Church and its priests. SNAP first tried to establish a chapter in 2004, but it did not work out, Prats said. Prats, a sexual abuse survivor, said it took him many years to speak up about being abused by a priest while he was a teenager. He did not come to grips with the abuse until he was in his 40s while undergoing therapy, and the sexual abuse scandals in the churches erupted. Bills in the Texas House and Senate have been introduced that would eliminate the statute of limitations for certain sexual offenses committed against children. Currently, a victim of abuse has until his or her 28th birthday to file charges against the alleged abuser. Prats said reports indicate that victims who were abused as a child usually do not remember the abuse until later in their adult life when they become parents. By that time, their statute of limitations has expired and the only action they can take is in civil court. House Bill 838 will go before a hearing within the next two weeks, said Jonathan English, press secretary for Rep. Debbie Riddle, who introduced the bill. English said the bill has received tremendous support from district attorneys and victims that are willing to speak out. "Anytime you have a piece of legislation that comes out so one-sided, so many people overwhelmingly in favor of it and passionately in favor of it without opposition, that’s really a little surprising in this line of work," English said. The Senate version of the bill is SB 1019. It has been 17 months since the SNAP San Antonio chapter was established and victims are slowly coming forward, said Barbara Garcia Boehland, director of the San Antonio chapter in a telephone interview from San Antonio. "It’s hard for the victims to show their faces. ... It’s not something where a hundred victims are going to come together and say, ‘Here we are,’" Boehland said. Boehland said some victims are hesitant to come forward because they were raised as children to respect the church. "You just do that kind of thing. … If you grew up in the church you were taught not (to) speak against God for fear of damnation or purgatory."
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