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A person must file a civil action for intentional or negligent sexual abuse suffered as a child:
(a) within four years after the person attains the age of 18 years; or
(b) if a person discovers sexual abuse only after attaining the age of 18 years, that person may bring a civil action for such sexual abuse within four years after discovery of the sexual abuse, whichever period expires later. ["Discovery" means when a person knows or reasonably should know that the injury or illness was caused by the intentional or negligent sexual abuse.]
A civil action may be brought only against a living person who intentionally perpetrated the sexual abuse or negligently permitted the sexual abuse to occur.
Utah courts have allowed only narrow and limited application of the statutory discovery provisions.
In Olsen v. Hooley, 865 P.2d 1345 (Utah 1993), the Utah Supreme Court held that the "exceptional circumstances" provision of the state discovery rule is applicable to a "totally repressed" memory case. The limitations period begins to run at the point the plaintiff recalls the abuse. Colosimo v. Roman Catholic Bishop of Salt Lake City, 865 P.2d at 1350 (UT 2007 UT).
See also Burkholz v. Joyce, 972 P.2d 1235
(Utah 1998) (refusing to apply discovery rule when Plaintiff had knowledge of the claim at age 19).
In Franklin v. Stevenson, 1987 P.2d 22 (Utah 1999) the court reversed a jury verdict and ruled that repressed memory testimony should not have been admitted at trial because its scientific reliability was not established in the trial court.
Link to Utah Statutes/Code
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