Germany offers therapy to child sex abuse victims

Germany will offer every victim of child sex abuse 10,000 euros ($13,000) worth of therapy from a 100 million euro fund set up to address a scandal centered on Catholic schools.

The statute of limitations for sexual abuse crimes will be extended to 30 years from just three. 

Victims will not receive government compensation under the plan.

The fund is the result of 18 months of consultation between the government, victims and Church officials. 

The government said the consultation group heard from more than 20,000 victims of abuse with many cases dating back several decades.

"The fund will go towards counselling and therapy -- it will not be used for cash payments. The victims said that (therapy) is a huge concern of theirs because most cannot finance therapy under their current health insurance plans," said Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger late on Wednesday.

"It was never our plan to make compensation payments with this fund -- it's up to the institutions themselves to decide how they want to make them."

The German Catholic Church faces some 600 demands for compensation. Pope Benedict met victims of clerical sex abuse on his visit to Germany in September and expressed his deep regret.

There had been calls for an official inquiry into the Catholic Church, as happened in Ireland. 

Berlin, however, opted for round-table talks investigating not only clerical abuse but also abuse within families and other institutions.

Some clerical abuse victims expressed disappointment about the fund, saying it was insufficient to redress a lifetime of suffering. Others criticized the new 30-year statute of limitations and said there should be no time limit.

Michael Ermisch, a victims' spokesman said: "Many victims just starting to open up are very old and they need long-term therapy, which is costly. Therapy costs can be determined only on an individual basis."

Norbert Denef, founder of Netzwerk B, a network for victims of sexual assault, said: "It can take victims up to 20 or 30 years to open up, which is why it is so important to abolish the statute of limitations. You can't say 'great, you can talk now but we won't let you sue'."

"These are lifelong injuries -- you can't just throw a few euros at the problem and think it will go away."

Bishop Stephan Ackermann, spokesman on abuse issues for the bishops' conference, has announced the Church would offer abuse victims whose cases are too old to bring to court payments of up to 5,000 euros, and set up a 500,000 euro fund to prevent abuse.