Aaronoff

This is an appeal from a judgment in favor of defendants James Senftner (James) and Gloria Martinez-Senftner (Gloria), the plaintiff’s parents, after they successfully demurred to a second amended complaint. The 40-year-old plaintiff sought damages from her parents for sexual abuse inflicted by her father when she was a child. The trial court found the claims barred by the statute of limitations, Code of Civil Procedure section 340.1.

Section 340.1, subdivisions (a) and (b) provide that a plaintiff must bring an action for damages caused by childhood sexual abuse before the age of 26 or within three years of the date of discovery, whichever is later. A 1997 action by the plaintiff against her parents was dismissed pursuant to these provisions. However, a recent amendment to section 340.1 permits a revival of the action, notwithstanding a prior termination on the basis of the statute of limitations, if commenced in 2003 against a third party who failed to take preventive action after notice of the unlawful sexual conduct “by an employee, volunteer, representative, or agent” of the third party. (§ 340.1, subds. (b)(2) & (c), as amended by Stats. 2002, ch. 149, § 1.)

At…