Missouri Supreme Court: Repressed 'Memory' Abuse Lawsuit Can Proceed

In a ruling with potentially broad effects, the Missouri Supreme Court said Tuesday that a man claiming a repressed memory of sexual abuse 30 years ago at Chaminade College Preparatory School is entitled to proceed with a lawsuit.

Of course, some plaintiffs' attorneys think it's a "clear-cut victory" which could allow even more lawsuits from those who may be mentally challenged, gullible, or easily manipulated...

Based on a Missouri Court of Appeals decision in St. Louis in 2000, the state's judges have closely followed the statute that required filing claims of childhood sexual abuse within five years of turning 21, or by age 31, depending on which law was in effect at the time of the alleged molesting.

Michael Powel filed suit in 2002 naming Chaminade, the Marianist religious order that operates it, former Archbishop Justin Rigali and two faculty members - a priest and a religious brother - accusing the teachers of molesting him in the mid-1970s, when he was 15 to 17 years old. The suit said he repressed memory of it until 2000, when he got treatment for a brain tumor. Rigali was dismissed from the suit, and the case proceeded. In 2004, St. Louis Circuit Judge John Riley dismissed Powel's claims, citing the 2000 appellate court ruling in saying he filed too late.

But now it's OK, because a "memory" has surfaced - bubbled up from the depths of the mire in which it was buried, stimulated into surfacing by poking at a brain cell here or a neron there, or, as it seems in most cases, planted there by others.

In recent years, 32 cases involving allegations of sexual abuse have been mediated or settled by the Archdiocese of St. Louis for a total of $2,474,800, said church lawyer Bernard Huger. One of those cases was settled for considerably more than the others, he said.

Staggering...and probably more to come considering the Missouri Supreme Court's decision...

With a greater chance of repressed-memory cases reaching trial, [Rebecca] Randles said, religious institutions will face greater pressure to settle out of court and possibly for larger amounts. She said defendants could lose millions in jury verdicts in cases that get that far.

Rebecca is an attorney who represents several alleged abuse victims. With this court ruling, it should not be too surprising to see how many more people will suddenly "recover" some long lost "memory" of an imagined or real abuse...he only thing necessary at that point is to ensure that the "abuser" was wearing a Roman collar...

For what it's worth, the Post Disgrace is conducting a poll:

How long should the statute of limitations last on repressed memory lawsuits?

Feel free to voice your opinion. The latest results were:

9% 0-5 years
16%....5-10 years
4%....10-20 years
1%....20-30 years
21%....There should be no limit
50%....Repressed memory suits shouldn't be allowed

Votes: 21
Polls are unscientific, reflecting only the views of those who choose to participate.