Marilyn Manson sexual assault lawsuit dismissed over statute of limitations
One of four sexual assault lawsuits filed against Marilyn Manson has been dismissed, after a judge ruled that the statute of limitations prevented the litigation from proceeding.The musician’s former assistant, Ashley Walters, sued Manson a year ago, accusing him of sexual harassment, abuse and battery during her time working for him between 2010 and 2011. Manson’s legal team had already successfully argued once before that Walters’ claims fell outside the statute of limitations, but she was given the opportunity to submit an amended complaint.In that amended filing, Walters said that, due to post-traumatic stress disorder, she had – until recently – suppressed her memories of what had happened to her while working for Manson.She had, said the lawsuit, been “unable to recall many of the physical and emotional abuses until the fall of 2020 when countless repressed memories flooded back to [her] after meeting numerous other victims of [Manson] and obtaining counselling from a mental health professional”.In California, where the case has been filed, the statute of limitations on sexual assault and harassment cases was three years, until 2020 when it was increased to ten years.However, according to Courthouse News, the judge overseeing the case, Michael Stern, said that the law change was not retroactive, meaning that Walters was still bound by the three year rule, requiring her to go legal within three years of the alleged abuse.