Wilson

John R. Phillips appeals from a judgment following a jury finding that he sexually battered and intentionally inflicted emotional distress on his daughter Stephanie Marie Nemeth and his stepdaughter La Donna Wilson. Phillips contends the court erroneously admitted expert testimony on the phenomenon of repressed memory. He also argues the statute of limitations governing childhood sexual abuse claims lacks sufficient safeguards to protect against false allegations of molestation. We affirm. [1]

Late one evening in December 1989, Wilson, then age 30, awoke to get a drink of water. When she returned to her room, she had a disturbing memory of Phillips molesting her as a child. Until then, Wilson had never remembered being molested. She was so distraught by the memory that she ran into the bathroom and vomited.

Over the next few months, Wilson began recalling that Phillips regularly molested her from the time she was four years old until she turned sixteen. In the spring of 1990, Wilson divulged the memories to her family, including Nemeth. Not long after that, Nemeth, then age 25, started having dreams and flashbacks about Phillips molesting her from ages 3…