Wilbanks Child Endangerment and Sexual Exploitation Clinic Staff Attorney Brian Atkinson and second year student Jessica L. Davis secured a $1.1 million verdict for their client after a three-day trial in Rockdale County, Georgia. The court found that the defendant, who was the clinic’s client’s stepfather, committed acts of child molestation to, with and in the presence of the client.
The case was filed minutes before midnight on June 30, 2017, just before the open window of 2015’s Hidden Predator Act closed. Because of the limited opportunity created by the Hidden Predator Act, the client’s 40 years of silence have ended. The favorable verdict demonstrates how statute of limitations reform can promote justice and healing for survivors, according to Wilbanks CEASE Clinic Director Emma M. Hetherington.