LANSING (MI)
WNEM [Saginaw, MI]
December 19, 2023
By La'Nita Brooks and Hannah Mose
An attorney is set to use the “Nassar bills” to argue why the Michigan legislature’s 2018 amendment to the statute of limitations should allow his client to sue the Catholic Diocese of Lansing for sexual assault.
Those Nassar bills come from the lessons the state learned from survivors of sexual abuse following former Olympic gymnastics and Michigan State University Dr. Larry Nassar’s sex abuse scandal, changing the statute of limitation laws to allow more time for victims to come forward.
One man’s accusation against the Catholic Diocese of Lansing is heading to the state Supreme Court to determine what Michigan’s statute of limitation laws will be.
“This is one of the first times that the Michigan Supreme Court, or any Supreme Court from across the country, is going to be hearing a case with a new statute of limitation that takes into consideration the delay childhood trauma has in these folks coming forward to talk about their abuse,” said attorney Ven Johnson, president of Ven Johnson Law.
On Tuesday, Dec. 19, he spoke at a press conference regarding a sexual assault case that will be heard by the Michigan Supreme Court. The court’s decision will set a legal precedent as it will reinterpret Michigan’s statute of limitations for sexual assaults involving minors.
“Eighty-two-point-nine percent do not report any of the rapes they experience during childhood. Let me say that again: 83 percent of people don’t report. That means basically 17 percent of people do,” Johnson said.
The case referenced involves a Roman Catholic priest from the Diocese of Lansing for sexual assault claims dating back to 1999.
Cases against Catholic churches are often thrown out due to the statute of limitations, but Johnson will argue why the Michigan legislature’s 2018 amendment to the statute of limitations should allow his client, Brian McLain, to bring forward a lawsuit against the Diocese of Lansing, Archdiocese of Baltimore, and Father Richard Lobert.
“It’s our position that the Michigan legislature understood very well the statistics that Ven went over because these are the things that they discuss when they’re in committees and when they’re doing the hard work that our legislature does,” said Christopher Desmond, chief appellate attorney for Ven Johnson Law. “They look at statistics and they look at evidence and they conclude that people like Mr. McLain very typically don’t come forward right away and don’t necessarily understand the nature of what occurred to them when they were children.”
The amendment was made following the conviction of Larry Nassar, who sexually abused hundreds of female athletes at Michigan State University, expanding the civil statute of limitations for sex abuse victims from age 18 to 28.
Earlier this year, Michigan lawmakers introduced bipartisan legislation that would further expand that to age 52.
“Ultimately, somebody who I thought was a higher authority from God was abusing me. So, I really didn’t know who to talk to about it or how to say anything about it,” McLain said.
Arguments are expected to begin in the spring.