REVIVING MEMORIES (Former LI man says he’s relieved, angry over arrest on child porn charges against retired priest he’s accused of abusing him as a child)

Newsday/Bart Jones

Robert Sammarco recalls how the priest would invite him to the beach in Mastic-Shirley, toNew York City to see Fiddler on the Roof, and even on a weeklong trip to Puerto Rico.  Then,back at the rectory in East Meadow after some outings, the priest, Kenneth Hasselbach, now 68,would sexually abuse Sammarco, sometimes in the shower, other times while wrestling, Sammarcosaid.  The trauma Sammarco said he experienced as a teenager in the 1960s is resurfacing asHasselbach faces new allegation, this time involving child pornography.  Last monthHasselbach, of Hollywood, Fla., was arrested in Florida and charged with possessing childpornography on his two computers.  In a statement, Hasselbach admitted that he possessedchild pornography on his two computers...he also admitted that he chatted online with 14 and 15year old boys about their first sexual experiences.  If convicted, Hasselbach faces 10 yearsin prison.  Hasselbach, who worked at St. Raphael's in East Meadow among other parishes, wasrelieved of his pastoral duties by the Diocese of Rockville Centre in 1994 and given earlyretirement after Sammarco, then 37, had lodged a complaint with the diocese.  Hasselbach wasnever prosecuted because the five-year statute of limitations had expired after the alleged abusein the late 1960s and early 1970s.  A pending state child sex abuse victims bill would createa one-year window during which a victim, regardless of when alleged abuse occurred, could filesuit.  If it is adopted, Sammarco said, he would file a lawsuit against the diocese andHasselbach in a heartbeat.
WHAT'S IN PROPOSED BILL
A child sex abuse victim's bill stands a renewed chance of passage in Albany.  Ifadopted, here is what the law would do:
- It would create a one-year window during which the five-year statue of limitations onfiling lawsuits in child sex abuse cases would be dropped.  This would allow alleged victimsto file lawsuits in the state regardless of when the abuse occurred.
- The alleged victims would have to prove their case in a court of law.
- The bill would also extend the statute of limitations for future cases from five years to10 years.  It is counted from the alleged victim's 18th birthday, meaning they would haveuntil 28 years of age to file a lawsuit instead of 23.
- A competing bill introduced by Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez (D-Brooklyn) does not include theone-year open window.  It would extend the time and accuser can file suit to seven years afterturning 18, that is, 25 years of age.
(New York)