TRENTON – Senator Joseph F. Vitale will host a screening of the Academy Award nominated documentary “Twist of Faith,” to put a human face on clergy sex abuse cases in New Jersey and underscore the need for charitable immunity reform, tomorrow, May 12, at noon and 3:00 P.M. in Committee Room 1 in the Statehouse Annex.
“The film is a visceral reminder of the impact of clergy sex abuse on the survivors’ lives,” said Senator Vitale, D-Middlesex, the prime sponsor of legislation to remove charitable immunity protection from groups that knowingly and negligently put children in harm’s way from sexual predators. “However, we also need the Legislature to understand that sexual molestation in charitable groups is not confined to the actions of one or two sexual predators hiding behind a good cause, but rather, a systemic problem that must be addressed through reform to truly protect our children. The guilt and feelings of worthlessness associated with sexual abuse many times stay with the survivors for the rest of their lives, and charitable groups that do nothing to address allegations of abuse should not be shielded from litigation by State law.”