By AP / KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – The case turns on the state deadline for filing lawsuits.
It's triggered not by when a wrong action is committed, but by when victims are capable of realizing the damages they suffered.
Michael Powel contends he was sexually abused by two instructors while attending Chaminade College Preparatory School, a Catholic boarding school in St. Louis County, in the 1970s.
But Powel claims he did not recall the abuse until 2000. He sued in June 2002, claiming the school intentionally failed to supervise staff members who abused him.
A lower judge had dismissed Powel's case, arguing he was capable of realizing damages of the abuse when it allegedly occurred.
But the state Supreme Court found the suit could proceed.