Court Upholds Cap on Damages for Ohio Woman Raped As Teen

By Andrew Welsh-Huggins
Sandusky Register
December 14, 2016

http://www.sanduskyregister.com/story/201612150014

The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a request from a woman raped by a pastor when she was 15 to boost the amount of damages paid by the church where the minister worked.

Attorneys for the woman and her father argued a state law that limits noneconomic damages to $350,000 violates the constitutional rights of underage sexual assault victims.

They argue that sexual abuse is typically more emotionally damaging than physical injury and sexually abused minors often spend years dealing with the trauma.

Attorneys for the church argued that distinguishing between sexual abuse and physical injury isn’t arbitrary or unreasonable. They also said the woman didn’t suffer the types of catastrophic injuries needed to override the cap.

As evidence, they said the woman finished high school, attended college, has a full-time job and hasn’t participated in mental health counseling or treatment since 2008, the year the assault occurred.

The court agreed, ruling 3-2 to uphold the caps with two additional justices saying the court shouldn’t have taken the case.