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Legal Cases

Legal cases are cases of recovered memory which were examined through the legal system. Some of these cases are criminal cases, in which recovered memories were used as evidence in a trial in which a state or federal government charges a defendant with a crime, or when recovered memories led to the re/opening of a criminal investigation. Other cases are civil cases, in which recovered memories play a role in one citizen suing another (or an institution or estate), usually seeking compensation for damages and recognition of harm.

Alley v. Alley

Alley v. Alley was a 1994 civil case from Seattle in which the plaintiff, Julie Alley, successfully sued her father, William Alley, for sexual assault in her childhood.

Bachmann v. Gummersbach

Bachmann v. Gummersbach was a 1994 case precipitated by Henry Bachmann’s recovered memories of being sodomized in 1964 by Rev. James Gummersbach in the basement of the Church of Immaculate Conception in St. Louis.

Bryan Bacon v. Marianist Province of the US

Bryan Bacon vs. Brother William Mueller was a 2005 civil suit filed in St. Louis, MO by Bryan Bacon after he recovered memory of 1985 abuse by his Catholic high school teacher Brother William Mueller in a 2004 therapy session.

California v. Claude Edward Foulk

John Doe v. Claude Edward Foulk (LA County, CA) was a 2010 criminal case in which Foulk was sentenced to 248 years in state prison, charged with 35 counts of oral copulation, sodomy by use of force, and forcible lewd acts on a child.

Cheit v. San Francisco and William Farmer

Cheit v. San Francisco Boys Chorus and William Farmer was a 1994 civil case based upon Ross Cheit's recovered memories of abuse by William Farmer

Colorado v. Marshall Adam Walker

Colorado v. Marshall Adam Walker was a criminal case from 2007 in which Walker was convicted on 30 of 35 counts of sexual abuse in the late 90s.

Colorado v. Philbert G. Pargas

Colorado v. Philbert G. Pargas was a 2009 criminal case in which Pargas was tried for 16 counts related to the sexual assault of two girls between 1997 and 2007.

Commonwealth of Massacusetts v. Porter

One of the most well known clergy abuse cases in America, Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Porter resulted in Father James R. Porter being sentenced to 18-20 years of imprisonment after pleading guilty to 41 charges for the sexual abuse of 28 children.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Crawford

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Crawford was a 1994 criminal case in which Franklin Crawford was found guilty of murder after John Reed recovered memories of witnessing Crawford dispose of the body ove 20 years earlier.

Commonwealth of Virginia v. Donnell

Commonwealth of Virginia v. Donnell was a 1992 criminal case from Virginia in which Lee Roy Donnell was convicted on one count of sexual battery for the sexual assault of his daughter when she was 13 years old.

Commonwealth v. Smith

Commonwealth v. Smith was a 1990 felony criminal case from Virginia, in which Landon Carter Smith plead guilty to the sexual abuse of his daughter.

Crook v. Murphy

Crook v. Murphy was a 1994 civil case from Washington in which Lynn Crook, the oldest of six children, successfully sued her father for recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse.

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