(WXYZ) — The Michigan Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case involving the sexual assault of a minor that could reinterpret Michigan's 2018 statute of limitations.
The case, McLain v. Lobert, was filed on behalf of Brian McClain, alleging McLain suffered multiple sexual assaults while he was a minor at W.J. Maxey Boys Training School in Whitmore Lake.
"Confession, ultimately is what was supposed to be going on," said McLain. "What had happened is I spoke with him about something I had done as a juvenile and I wanted to repent for it and he ultimately used that against me and on numerous occasions used it against me to have me do things to him sexually."
In the lawsuit, McClain alleges the defendant, Father Richard Lobert, sexually assaulted McLain. Lobert, the Diocese of Lansing and the Archdiocese of Baltimore are named as defendants in the case.
According to the lawyer representing McLain, the court will decide whether his lawsuit was timely under the Michigan legislature's 2018 amendment to the statute of limitations.
That amendment allows people to bring a suit for sexual assault of a minor until the age of 28 or up to three years after connecting the assault to trauma.
According to the suit, McLain told a therapist for the first time in November 2020 that he was allegedly abused.
The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that the updated legislature does not apply retroactively to claims that were already time-barred when the statute was enacted, reversing a trial court's decision in the case.
Attorney for McLain, Ven Johnson said; "This is one of the first times that the Michigan Supreme Court, or any Supreme Court from across the country is going to be hearing a case with a new statute of limitation that takes into considering the delay that childhood trauma has."
We have reached out to the diocese for a statement.
