Woman Alleges Sexual Abuse in Woburn in '70s

A Burlington woman is claiming her uncle, a Waltham businessman, sexually assaulted her many times from 1968 to 1977, according to a lawsuit she has filed in .

Rosanne Sliney, 48, claims her uncle, Domenic Previte Jr., of Waltham, sexually assaulted and raped her hundreds of times starting when she was 5 years old in 1968. According to the lawsuit, some of the abuse occurred at the .

The alleged abuse continued until she was 14 in 1977, according to the lawsuit. Sliney also claims Previte forced her to have sex with other men, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit names the 10 other men which Sliney was allegedly forced to have sex with as defendants, but their identities are not currently known.

The alleged abuse occurred at Previte’s Waltham home (a different one from which he lives now), at a Cambridge car wash where Previte worked and the according to the lawsuit.

Sliney is asking for unknown amount of financial compensation for her pain and suffering, as well as attorney’s fees.

Sliney and her attorney, Carmen Durso, are scheduled to hold a press conference about the lawsuit at 1 p.m. today at Durso’s Boston office.

Sliney started recalling the alleged abuse in 1988 and confided in relatives, according to the suit. She sought psychiatric treatment and was hospitalized several times starting in 1987 when she was 24 years old, according to the lawsuit.

In March 1991, Sliney signed a dcoument claiming to be a “Release and Settlement” agreement in exchange for $26,500. Sliney, however, claims her tenuous mental state left her unable to understand what she was signing, according to the lawsuit. She also claims she felt pressured by her family to forgive Previte as another reason she signed the document, according to the lawsuit. She was also told the document was merely a formality, according to the lawsuit.

Previte also allegedly confessed and apologized for abusing Sliney in a handwritten letter to her, according to the lawsuit.

Later, Sliney was again hospitalized, but Previte refused to pay for the treatment, saddling Sliney with the bills, which are still outstanding today, according to the lawsuit.

Within the past year, Sliney has started recalling new memories in which she remembers Previte forcing her to have sex with other men.