Missouri high court weighs sex-abuse suit against Boy Scouts

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A man who said he was sexually abused for years by his scoutmaster should be allowed to sue the Boy Scouts of America even though he missed a deadline to do so by years, the man's attorney argued Thursday before the Missouri Supreme Court.

The 35-year-old man, who is referred to in case documents only as John Doe, alleges his scoutmaster sexually abused and battered him starting when he was about 12 years old in 1992, and the abuse continued until 1997.

The statute of limitations for suing over the alleged abuse ended in 2003, a year before the Legislature extended the statute for child sexual-abuse lawsuits to 10 years after a victim turns 21.

Lawsuits previously were barred after a victim turned 23 or three years after discovering injury caused by abuse.

The man's attorney, Randall Rhodes, told the high court they should allow the lawsuit to proceed because his client filed it in 2011, shortly before he turned 31.

He said the 2004 extension of the statute of limitations should apply retroactively and said it would fall in line with a public-policy goal to give the victims of child sexual abuse more time to come forward since they sometimes delay pursuing legal action for years because of the stigma.

"This is not your typical statute of limitations. This is a unique statute," Rhodes said.

"It's not designed to shorten a time in which clients can bring lawsuits forward; rather, it's intended to lengthen the time."

Rhodes cited case law from other states, such as a Delaware superior court ruling that backs the constitutionality of a 2007 state law to create a two-year window for victims of child sexual abuse to bring forward cases previously barred by statutes of limitation.

Gerard Noce, an attorney for the Boy Scouts, argued the lawsuit was filed too late, and Doe missed deadlines for other abuse claims.

He noted unlike other sexual-abuse cases filed years after alleged abuse, Doe never claimed he pursued legal action only recently because of previously repressed memories.

He also argued Missouri's law applies only to individuals facing child-abuse lawsuits, not to organizations.

Chief Justice Patricia Breckenridge said the intent of the law is once a statute of limitations has passed, "the case cannot be re-established by an adoption of a longer statute of limitation."

Judges did not indicate when they might rule.

The case against the scoutmaster is pending.