William M. Leahey

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William M Leahey
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William M LeaheyA Canadian Family Law Lawyer
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William M Leahey

• An abuser's estate fair game-judge Ruling allows
  woman to sue alleged perpetrator even after
  death..
• A lawsuit claiming damages for childhood sexual
  abuse can be pursued even after the alleged
  perpetrator's death, a Nova Scotia judge has
  ruled. In a decision that extends the deadline
  for launching such actions Justice William Kelly
  of the Supreme Court has allowed an Ontario woman
  to sue the estate of her brother, who died in
  1998.
• The woman claims her brother, who was seven years
  older, physically and sexually abused her 45
  years ago, during their childhood in a village
  near Halifax. The judge, in interim ruling made
  public Wednesday, acknowledge it will be
  difficult for those administering the estate,
  valued at about 215,000, to mount a defence.

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Focussed in the Areas of Family Law

• But to strike out the claim on the basis of this
  prejudice alone one would almost have to conclude
  that in the circumstances of the death of a
  defendant no similar action against an estate
  could survive, "Justice Kelly wrote. To so
  conclude would not advance respect for the
  administration of justice and would be an unjust
  comment on the capacity of a trial court to
  ensure a fair trail. Family members can testify
  to compensate for the loss of the main as a
  witness, he added. And the delay in bringing the
  case to trial will have an impact on the memory
  of witnesses on both sides.
• The Woman's lawyer, Bill Leahey says the case is
  the first to test limitation periods, introduced
  in the mid-1990s, on launching lawsuits based on
  sexual abuse. This is going to have wild ranging
  impact, he said Wednesday. The limitation period
  defence has been removed for practical purposes
  in sexual abuse cases. The judge allowed the
  claim to proceed even though the woman alleges
  she was abused in the late 1940s and early 1950s,
  when she was between age 10 and 16..

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• The law allows actions to be filed within four
  years of an alleged victim becoming old enough to
  sue, or up to four years after the person becomes
  aware though therapy or other treatment that
  abuse occurred.
• The woman launched the action in 1999, after her
  brother's death but within two years of starting
  therapy that linked her depression troubled
  relationships and medical problems such as
  stomach pains to the alleged abuse. The ruling
  also establishes that a claim for damages for
  breach of "fiduciary" duty - a person's duty to
  protect a more vulnerable person - can survive
  the limitation deadline. Mr. Leahey says that has
  implications for people who claim they were
  abused by a parent, older sibling, teacher,
  doctor or other authority figure.
• People who are out there who were abused in their
  childhood and are now adults and think they can't
  sue now have the right to sue. Mr. Leahey expects
  judges will want accusers to account for failure
  to launch action while alleged abuser was alive.
  

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