Doe A. V. Diocese of Dallas

              1
NOTICE
Decision filed 03/07/08. The text of
this dec ision may be changed or
corrected prior to the filing of a
Petition for Rehea ring or the
disposition of the same.
NO. 5-06-0383
IN THE
APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS
FIFTH DISTRICT
________________________________________________________________________
JOHN DOE A., ) Appeal from the
) Circuit Court of
Plaintiff-Appellant, ) St. Clair County.
)
v. ) No. 03-L-713
)
DIOCESE OF DALLAS, DIOCESE )
OF BELLEVILLE, ARCHDIOCESE )
OF ST. LOUIS, and FATHER )
KENNETH ROBERTS, ) Honorable
) Lloyd A. Cueto,
Defendants-Appellees. ) Judge, presiding.
________________________________________________________________________
JUSTICE CHAPMAN delivered the opinion of the court:
John Doe A. appeals from the trial court's February 17, 2006, order dismissing his
complaint with prejudice as being barred under the 1994 childhood sexual abuse statute of
limitations (735 ILCS 5/13-202.2 (West 1994)) and concluding that a more recent
limitations statute for survivors of childhood sexual abuse (735 ILCS 5/13-202.2 (West
Supp. 2003)) was inapplicable because the earlier applicable limitations period had already
expired before the enactment of the later statute and thus could not be revived by this later
legislative enactment. We reverse and remand.
The plaintiff in this case alleges that he was sexually molested by Father Kenneth
Roberts one time in 1984 when Father Roberts was a guest speaker at the plaintiff's Catholic
grade school in Belleville, Illinois. As we will detail in this opinion, allegations of sexual
misconduct had been lodged against Father Roberts prior to this Belleville engagement.
The plaintiff was born on May 5, 1970, into a devout Catholic family. By 1984, the
plaintiff was considering entering the priesthood. Father Roberts came to speak at the