ILLINOIS
Nessler & Associates
By: Jonathan T. Nessler
The Law Offices of Frederick W. Nessler & Associates, Ltd. achieved a victory for a victim of sexual abuse, in Horn v. The Catholic Diocese of Peoria, et al. Justice O’Brien delivered the Court’s opinion on August 24, 2016. In the opinion, the appellate court reversed the trial court’s dismissal of that claim.
In Horn, the Plaintiff alleges that he was sexually abused by Reverend Norman Goodman, between 1991 and 1994. Horn v. The Catholic Diocese of Peoria, et al., 2016 IL App 3d 150339, ¶ 4 (3rd Dist. 2016). The Plaintiff alleges he was 13-years old when the abuse began. Id. The Plaintiff alleges the injuries caused by the sexual abuse include “confusion . . . development of symptoms of psychological disorders, such as shame, guilt, self-blame, depression, repressed memory, suppressed memory and disassociation.” Id. The Plaintiff alleges that these psychological conditions occurred before he turned 18, and, because of this, he was long unable to remember the abuse and unable to recognize the connection between his own psychological injury and the abuse by Goodman. Id.
The Plaintiff filed a lawsuit against Reverend Norman Goodman, The Holy Family Catholic Church and The Catholic Diocese of Peoria on July 30, 2012, and subsequently filed an amended complaint including further allegations. Id. at ¶ 3. The Plaintiff alleges in his complaint that Reverend Goodman and the Diocese were aware of the abuse. Id. at ¶ 6. He alleges that Reverend Goodman threatened him with “severe consequences” if the Plaintiff did not remain silent about the abuse, and that the Diocese, through its silence, attempted to convince the Plaintiff that these sexual acts were not abuse, wrong, harmful or injurious. Id. at ¶ 6.
The Diocese asked the trial court to dismiss the complaint, arguing that the statute of limitations barred prosecution of the claim. Id. at ¶ 7. This means, in a nut shell, that the Diocese argued that too much time had passed from when the alleged abuse took place and the filing of the lawsuit. The trial court granted the Diocese’s request, and dismissed the claim. Id.
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