Tanya Kach was involved in two civil lawsuits after her 2006 rescue from a decade of captivity: a federal civil rights suit she filed against her abductor, his employer, the McKeesport Area School District, and others, which was dismissed as time-barred and affirmed on appeal; and a defamation suit brought against her by her former therapist over statements in Kach’s 2011 memoir. The available reporting does not show any lawsuit filed by or against her father, Jerry Kach.
The Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit
After her rescue, Kach sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The named defendants included Thomas Hose, the security guard who abducted her; Hose’s parents; St. Moritz Security Services, the private company that employed him; the McKeesport Area School District; school personnel; and law enforcement officials. She alleged that Hose had violated her civil rights and that the school district and security company were responsible for failing to prevent or respond to her abduction.1U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Kach v. Hose, 589 F.3d 626
U.S. District Judge Gary L. Lancaster granted summary judgment to all defendants in 2008.2Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. New Book Chronicles Tanya Nicole Kach’s Decade-Long Captivity The threshold problem was timing. Pennsylvania sets a two-year statute of limitations for § 1983 claims, and the court held that Kach’s claims accrued in 1996, when the abuse began, because a reasonable person in her position would have been aware of the injuries at that point. Tolling the clock during her minority still left an October 2001 deadline, five years before she was actually rescued.1U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Kach v. Hose, 589 F.3d 626
The district court also found that Hose had not acted “under color of state law,” a required element of a § 1983 claim. Although Hose worked as a security guard at Kach’s school, his employer was a private firm, and the court concluded that abducting and concealing Kach was not conduct undertaken in his capacity as a state actor.3vLex. Kach v. Hose, 589 F.3d 626
The Third Circuit Appeal
Kach appealed. She argued that the limitations period should have been extended because she had been too young and too developmentally disadvantaged during captivity to recognize her injuries, and she invoked a narrow exception in Pennsylvania law for people with a total mental disability who lack a legal guardian.
In a 2009 opinion, Judge D. Michael Fisher acknowledged that Kach had endured an “indescribable ordeal” that cost her her adolescence and young adulthood. The court still found that her circumstances did not meet the “total mental disability” standard the exception required. Her parents were her legal guardians during her minority, which further undercut the argument. Judge Fisher wrote that Kach was “capable of recognizing her injury before the age of 24” and that by waiting until that age to file suit, she had “forewent her right to relief in federal court.”4Courthouse News Service. Woman Can’t Sue School Guard Who Seduced Her
The Third Circuit also rejected Kach’s argument that duress should toll the statute of limitations under Pennsylvania law, finding no authority recognizing duress as a tolling mechanism in the state.1U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Kach v. Hose, 589 F.3d 626 The appeals court affirmed the district court in full, ending Kach’s federal claims against every defendant.3vLex. Kach v. Hose, 589 F.3d 626
The Memoir and the Defamation Suit
Kach’s attorney on the failed civil case, Lawrence H. Fisher, later co-authored her memoir. Fisher had originally been retained by Kach’s father, Jerry Kach, on an unrelated property matter, and after learning of Tanya’s captivity he told her he saw potential civil claims against the school district and others he described as “indifferent to her plight.”5WritersWeekly. Lawrence Fisher He represented her for nearly four years before the two collaborated on the book using documents assembled during the lawsuit.2Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. New Book Chronicles Tanya Nicole Kach’s Decade-Long Captivity
Memoir of a Milk Carton Kid: The Tanya Nicole Kach Story was published in 2011 by Tate Publishing.2Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. New Book Chronicles Tanya Nicole Kach’s Decade-Long Captivity Kach’s former therapist, Janice Pope, filed a notice of intent to sue in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court in January 2012, alleging that the book falsely stated she had “abandoned” Kach during the period she was treating her. The suit named Kach, Fisher, and Tate Publishing.6CBS News Pittsburgh. Tanya Kach’s Book Prompts Lawsuit From Former Therapist
Kevin Tucker, representing Fisher and the publisher, argued that the disputed statements were “merely opinions and have no defamatory support whatsoever.” Judge Judith Friedman ruled in March 2012 that the proceedings would remain open to the public, denying Pope’s request to seal the case.7Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Therapist to Sue Woman Held Captive for a Decade The final outcome of the suit does not appear in the available reporting.
What About Jerry Kach?
Searches for a “Tanya Kach father lawsuit” turn up no such case in the available record. Jerry Kach hired Lawrence Fisher on an unrelated property matter, which is how Fisher came to represent Tanya, but he is not identified as a plaintiff or defendant in either the federal civil rights suit or the therapist’s defamation suit.5WritersWeekly. Lawrence Fisher Tanya Kach is estranged from her father and his girlfriend, JoAnn, and has reconciled with her mother, Sherri.8People. Where Is Abuse Survivor Tanya Kach Now
The Criminal Case That Did Produce a Conviction
The one proceeding that ended in a judgment against Hose was the criminal prosecution, not a civil suit. Allegheny County prosecutors charged him with three counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, interference with the custody of a child, corruption of a minor, endangering the welfare of a child, and indecent assault.9NBC News. School Security Guard Sentenced in Abduction Case He was not charged with kidnapping because Kach had initially left with him voluntarily, even though she was a child at the time.8People. Where Is Abuse Survivor Tanya Kach Now
On the opening day of trial, June 26, 2007, Hose pleaded guilty to all charges. Judge John A. Zottola sentenced him to five to 15 years in prison and issued a no-contact order barring him from communicating with Kach or her family.10Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Ex-Guard Sentenced in 10-Year Abduction Judy Sokol, an accomplice who had helped disguise Kach and allowed Hose to assault her in Sokol’s home, pleaded guilty to statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault, and corruption of a minor. She was sentenced to six to 23 months.8People. Where Is Abuse Survivor Tanya Kach Now
Hose served the full 15-year maximum and was released in February 2022, reaching the end of his term rather than being paroled. He is registered under Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law.11WTAE. Man Who Held Girl Captive for 10 Years Out of Prison