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Appeals court gives county go-ahead to try stepdad for child sex abuse

By MARY LYNN SMITH, Star Tribune

Last update: April 8, 2008 - 9:29 PM

A Minnesota Court of Appeals ruling issued Tuesday will allow Hennepin County prosecutors to press their case against a man accused of sexually abusing his now-adult stepdaughter 20 years ago.

Defense attorneys, however, plan to ask the state Supreme Court to review the ruling.

At issue is when to apply the statute of limitations for prosecuting the case.

The victim said her stepfather sexually abused her between 1984 and 1987 when she was 9 to 12 years old.

If a sexual abuse victim is younger than 18 years of age, state law requires that an indictment or complaint be filed within nine years of the offense. If the victim fails to report the abuse within that time, the complaint must be made within three years after it's reported to law enforcement authorities.

The defense attorneys argued that the nine-year statute of limitations started when the victim, then 21, reported the abuse to her cousin. That was in 1996, and according to the defense attorneys, exceeds the nine-year statute of limitations for reporting the crime.

But the Court of Appeals said the statute of limitations didn't apply until she made the report to police. Minneapolis police interviewed the victim's stepfather, David M. Soukup, in January 2007. He admitted to the abuse, according the Appeals Court ruling.

Prosecutors charged Soukup with one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. But his attorney pushed to dismiss the case, saying Soukup can't be prosecuted for conduct 20 years ago.

Carol Grant, Soukup's attorney, said Tuesday that the three-year statute of limitation after reporting the abuse to the police would have applied only if the victim hadn't reported the abuse earlier to her cousin.

Mary Lynn Smith • 612-673-4788