Q: Did the Arkansas statute of limitations for filing a civil suit for sexual abuse start "ticking" again for my wife?
My wife & I married 1 year ago. Just very recently, with the help of an excellent psychotherapist, did she come to understand the devastating impact the abuse by her stepfather has had on her life. Until I insisted she get some help, she had repressed everything and convinced herself that the inability to trust, inability to enjoy intimacy, fear that a man - now I - will hurt her, cheat on her, steal from here, you name it, were due to the men in her first 2 failed marriages. I suspected they were likely, in large part, the effects of something else, not the cause. Turns out that is correct. Additionally, she has opened up to me & told me this piece of slime sexually abuse her two younger siblings. Since she only recently discovered the devastating extent of the damage her stepfather's sexual abuse has had on her entire life - with 2 failed marriages & ours in peril - can she take civil action?
A: More likely criminal action. Best bet is for her to consult a member of the Ark.Assn for Justice who handles assault cases and see what they say--they give free consults.
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