For one Cosby accuser, a day in court awaits

LOS ANGELES (AP) - For weeks, women have publicly shared stories of alleged sexual abuse by Bill Cosby with the expectation that any lawsuits they might file would be blocked due to long-expired statutes of limitations.

On Tuesday, however, a woman who claims Cosby molested her in a bedroom of the Playboy Mansion around 1974 filed a sexual battery lawsuit, using an exemption that allows victims of childhood sexual abuse to sue decades after the incident.

Judy Huth contends she was 15 years old when Cosby abused her and filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles because she only recently became aware of psychological damage caused by the incident. Experts say Huth's lawsuit is the latest high-profile example of an alleged abuse victim getting their day in court.

"The reality is, with sexual violence and a lot of traumatic events, is that you don't discover either the full extent or even any of the trauma immediately," said Meg Garvin, a law professor and executive director of the National Crime Victim Law Institute.

She said statute of limitations laws that limited victims, especially those of childhood sex abuse, from filing claims later in life reflect an outdated public policy.

"It was neglecting the reality of victimization," she said. "The original public policy is no longer valid because we know better now."

It can take decades for a victim of child sex abuse to realize the impact it's had on their life, said Raymond Boucher, a civil litigator who was the lead attorney in molestation lawsuits against the Catholic Church of California. Boucher's work led to the settlement of many of the cases for $660 million in 2007.

"When you're talking about rape or sexual abuse, so often the victims suppress the feelings, the emotion, and the incident itself," Boucher said.

For Huth's lawsuit to survive, she will have to show that she discovered the alleged abuse by Cosby caused significant psychological damage within the past three years.

"This traumatic incident, at such a tender age, has caused psychological damage and mental anguish for (Huth) that has caused significant problems throughout her life," her lawsuit states.

Boucher said as the case progresses, a psychological analysis of Huth will play a role in whether her case goes forward.