Description:
Wilson v. Phillips was a case from California that reached a verdict in 1996 in which LaDonna Wilson and her half-sister (who does not want to be identified) sued John Phillips for sexual molestation that occurred when each daughter was about 5 years old. A jury awarded $1.15 million in compensatory damages. Wilson began to recover memories 18 years after the abuse occured, experiencing anxiety attacks after while in her childhood home and while visitng her father and seeing him stand over one of his younger daughters from a different marriage. Testimony from Wilson's sister and mother corroborate her account of the abuse. “During the trial, Wilson, her sister and mother testified about a time when Wilson’s bed came crashing down on a box of kittens. When the others came into the bedroom, Phillips was there naked” (Reyes). The Court of Appeals for the Fourth Appellate District upheld the verdict of the jury, finding that Phillips sexually battered and intentionally inflicted emotional distress on his daughter and stepdaughter.
Source
1. Reyes, D. (1996, March 30). 2 Daughters Win $1.15 Million in Sex Abuse Case. Los Angeles Times.
2. Wilson v. Phillips, 73 Cal. App. 4th 250; 86 Cal. Rptr. 2d 204 (June 30, 1999).