A Stitch in Haste

First Philadelphia, now Chicago:

Eleven priests suspected of sexual misconduct with minors more than 20 years ago have been barred from clerical work, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago said Monday.

The men cannot present themselves as priests, engage in public ministries or act as an agent of the archdiocese, although they have not been removed from the priesthood, said Chancellor Jimmy Lago.
...
The statue [sic] of limitations has expired in all the cases, officials said.
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"I think that this begrudging, long overdue action ... does not relieve Cardinal George of his responsibility," said Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. "There's 11 known child molesters out there that are not going to be found on any sex offender registries."

Maybe the answer is to eliminate the statute of limitations for child molestation. In First Amendment law, child pornography is considered "just different" and receives no constitutional protection, none whatsoever. There's generally no statute of limitations for murder, and some jurisdictions are even eliminating the statute of limitations for sex crimes whenever DNA evidence is available indefinitely.

So why not say what we're already saying in another context: that child molestation is sui generis and allow authorities to go after pervert priests and other molesters no matter how long it takes to discover their identities?

Maybe that, along with another billion dollars or so of judgments and settlements — might finally get the church bureaucracy's attention.