OMAHA (NE)
Sioux City Journal
OMAHA (AP) -- A Douglas County district court judge has declared that repressed memories are not reliable enough for filing claims of sexual abuse years after an alleged incident at Boys Town.
On Monday, Judge Sandra Dougherty ruled that Todd Rivers of Omaha could not present expert testimony that Rivers had repressed memories of abuse.
In his lawsuit, Rivers said a priest molested him in the 1980s.
Rivers' expert, Dougherty said, did not prove that such a diagnosis is scientifically valid.
Even if the memories do exist, the condition may not apply to Rivers, Dougherty said.
Rivers alleges that the Rev. James Kelly of Girls and Boys Town made him drop his pants during confession and re-enact how he would masturbate. Rivers also alleged that Kelly touched his crotch after he pulled up his pants.
Rivers said he didn't remember the incident until he "recovered" it in a dream nearly 20 years later, in 2002.