By Amy Pearson
Winona Daily News
June 28, 2011
http://www.winonadailynews.com/news/local/article_1955d0ee-a13f-11e0-896d-001cc4c03286.html
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The Minnesota Court of Appeals threw out a ruling Monday that barred a man from suing the Diocese of Winona on a claim that its negligence allowed him to be sexually abused for two years by a priest.
A victim, referred to as John Doe C, filed suit in 2006 in Ramsey County District Court against the diocese and the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul, accusing Thomas Adamson of sexually abusing him from 1980 to 1982 at a Burnsville, Minn., church, where Doe served as an altar boy.
Prior to serving in the Twin Cities, Adamson was a priest in Winona from 1958 to 1975 and had admitted as early as 1964 to having sexual contact with boys under his supervision.
The Diocese of Winona could not be reached for comment Monday.
The district court granted summary judgment in Doe's case and said that a six-year statute of limitations allowing victims of sexual abuse to claim injuries had passed.
John Doe later appealed the decision, stating that while the abuse occurred more than two decades prior to him filing suit, memory repression prohibited him from knowing about the abuse until 2002 — making it impossible for him to pursue legal action within the six-year time frame established by the district court as beginning in 1985.
The court of appeals ruled Monday the district court erred in deciding the six-year deadline.
The plaintiff's attorney, Jeff Anderson, said the decision is significant for all victims of childhood sexual assault.
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