NEBRASKA
World-Herald
BY TODD COOPER
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
A Douglas County District judge has declared the notion of repressed memory unscientific and unreliable - effectively gutting a former Boys Town student's lawsuit claiming that a priest molested him in the 1980s.
In an order filed Monday, Judge Sandra Dougherty ruled that Todd Rivers of Omaha could not present expert testimony that he had repressed memories of abuse. She said Rivers' expert had not proved that such a diagnosis is scientifically valid.
But even if repressed memories do exist, Dougherty said, she questions whether such a diagnosis applied to Rivers.
Rivers alleges that the Rev. James Kelly made him drop his pants during confession and re-enact how he would masturbate. Rivers alleged that Kelly touched his crotch after he pulled up his pants.