Jury Rules Sex Suit Not Filed Soon Enough

Deciding that the statute of limitations had expired, a San Diego Superior Court jury Monday ruled against a San Diego State University student who alleged that a woman used psychological pressure to force him to have sex.

After deliberating for about a day in the civil lawsuit filed by David Rudenberg, 27, of La Jolla, the panel said he did not file his claim within the one year required by law.

Because of that, the jury never considered whether Kay Shimek, 42, used harassment and bizarre threats to allegedly turn Rudenberg into her sex slave beginning in 1988.

“I feel very relieved,” an emotional Shimek said after the verdict was announced.

The charges are “purely a figment of Mr. Rudenberg’s imagination,” she said.

Shimek said the allegations contained in the lawsuit were the result of Rudenberg’s continued participation in a cult-like therapy group led by an unlicensed therapist who treated her.

Shimek said she went to the therapist, Ron Edell of La Mesa’s Institute of Holistic Potential, for nine years, during which she was placed under hypnosis and induced to perform ritualistic exorcisms. She said she also was coerced into performing as a sex surrogate.

Rudenberg’s lawsuit was filed after Shimek sued Edell in a case that was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount, Shimek said. Edell has continually denied Shimek’s charges.

Rudenberg did not attend Monday’s hearing. However, his attorney, Mary M. Howell, said the decision will have a chilling effect on other victims of sexual abuse.

“It will discourage other victims who are wavering,” Howell said.

She had argued that the statute of limitations extends for three years.

While the jury did not consider most of Rudenberg’s claims--including an allegation that Shimek kept him as a sexual hostage for four days--the panel did determine that Shimek slapped him at a Mexican restaurant last year.

However, the jury also ruled that Rudenberg was not harmed by this action and therefore did not deserve any monetary award.