I was gang raped in a small town in Washington state in 1984. The sheriff intimidated me in to not pressing charges.

La Center, WA Viewed 9 times. Posted 26 days ago in Criminal Defense

I want to know if I can sue the city or the county for not pursuing the charges against the 3 boys who raped me. The Sheriff was a woman and told me that if I pursued charges, I would be arrested for statutory rape as one of the boys would claim that I had sex with him previously. And she would be correct. He was 16 and I was 24. I didn't know he was 16 tho. I was drugged that night and the one who drugged me also stole all my money. There was a rape kit done in a Vancouver hospital. I went out with a rape councilor to talk to the police. The sheriff then threated to throw me in jail if I pursued charges. Said she knows the boys I was accusing and they would NEVER do anything like that so it was a waste of my time pursuing this. So I just left and have lived with this for 26 years now.

Answers (1)

Thuong-Tri Nguyen

This attorney is licensed in Washington. Posted 26 days ago.

Offhand, I do not know what the WA laws on sexual offenses were in 1984. But, under the current laws, consensual sex with a 16-year-old person would not be unlawful today, except for some specific situations (such as the older person is the younger person's teacher).

A problem with suing the government is that there is an extra step requiring the plaintiff to file an administrative claim against the government before filing the lawsuit in court. Often, the claim must be filed within 6 months of the incident. Given that your events happened in 1984, you may have passed all the time limits by which to file claims and lawsuits.

However, situations involving sex offenses have special rules. You can review your specific facts with attorneys who specialize in actions involving sex offenses to see if you still have any legal options.