A survivor of alleged sexual abuse at Children’s Theatre Company says she’ll ask the legislature to change laws that might have forced her to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars of C-T-C’s court costs. That’s because, although a jury determined Children’s Theatre was negligent, it was not legally liable to pay damages to Laura Stearns and could then request reimbursement. Stearns says, “It is an understandable motion in the world of business, but it is a weapon when it is used against a sexual assault survivor — especially a survivor of childhood sexual assault.” She adds, “It is hard enough to break the silence and speak the truth about sexual assault without risking financial ruin to do so.”
Victims’ attorney Jeff Anderson says Children’s Theatre Company dropped its request for reimbursement of court costs. That happened after Stearns began a boycott campaign against the theater. Stearns dropped her boycott Friday but says she doesn’t want any other sex abuse survivor put in the same position.