In Dunn v. Borough of Mountainside, 301 N.J. Super. 262, 276-78, 693 A.2d 1248 (App.Div.), certif. denied, 153 N.J. 402, 709 A.2d 795 (1998) the Court found that the failure to perform an independent duty could result in an equitable tolling. The plaintiff had been seriously abused by a police officer but was unable to make an identification of the defendant until after the two year limitation period of the Tort Claims Act. N.J.S.A. 59:8-8(b). The Court held that while the discovery rule did not apply, there was an equitable tolling of the statute because defendant was a police officer and had an independent duty to disclose the assault. In Dunn v. Borough of Mountainside, supra, 301 N.J.Super. 262, 693 A.2d 1248, the plaintiff was sexually assaulted by a police officer who stopped her for a traffic violation. Plaintiff did not bring suit until the officer was identified three years later, after the applicable two year limitations period had expired. In concluding that this limitations period should be equitably tolled, the Court noted that "a determination on the equities of applying a statute of limitations is 'within the province of the court,'" id. at 279, 693 A.2d 1248, and concluded that the equities favored the victim of the crime rather than the perpetrator: Statutes of limitation are primarily a shield to protect a defendant from having to defend stale claims. They should not be used as a sword by a defendant whose conduct contributed to the expiration of the statutory period.Id. at 280, 693 A.2d 1248.