MASSACHUSETTS
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

[excerpt]

We recite here the facts alleged in Sliney’s complaint and for purposes of this appeal we assume the facts to be true.

Jarosz v. Palmer, 436 Mass. 526, 529-530 (2002) (motion for judgment on pleadings filed by defendant is essentially motion to dismiss). From the time she was five years old in 1968 until she was fourteen years old in 1977, Sliney was sexually abused many times by Previte, her uncle. She required psychiatric treatment to deal with issues related to the abuse, and was hospitalized on numerous occasions for the same reason, beginning when she was approximately twenty-four years old.

Sliney began to recall some of the abuse by Previte beginning in 1988, and confided in her relatives. Thereafter, Previte wrote a letter of apology to Sliney and asked for her forgiveness. Sliney was under family pressure to forgive Previte, and in…