CURTIS T. v. County of Los Angeles

In this tort action against the County of Los Angeles, the minor plaintiff alleged that he was molested by another child for several years while living in a foster home, and that his foster parent saw the alleged molestation but failed to stop it. The trial court sustained the County’s demurrer without leave to amend due to the minor plaintiff’s failure to file a claim within six months of the accrual of his cause of action, as measured from the date the alleged molestation ended.

Plaintiff has appealed from the order of dismissal, contending his claim was timely filed within six months of the accrual of his cause of action, as measured from the date of his mother’s discovery of the alleged molestation. According to the complaint, plaintiff’s mother did not discover the molestation until plaintiff was questioned about having molested his sister.

We reject the County’s contention that under John R. v. Oakland Unified School Dist. (1989) 48 Cal.3d 438 [ 256 Cal.Rptr. 766 , 769 P.2d 948 ] (John R.), plaintiff’s cause of action accrued, as a matter of law, on the date of the alleged molestation. In our view, while the Supreme Court in John R. refrained from applying the…