child sexual battery molestation lawsuit attorneys

Can I Sue If I Was Sexually Abused as a Child?

Yes, you can sue if you were sexually abused as a child. There are worldwide rules that guide legal processes for sexually abused children. In California state, Senate Bill No.33 chapter 477 has guidelines that explain sexual abuse of children, the legal procedures to follow for an abused child, and the sentence for people who abuse children sexually.

The bill has specific provisions that apply to a person who is a suspect or a convict of the crime. A child who has been sexually abused has room for complete protection by the law. A treatment plan is conducted, and once completed, the child’s legal rights are protected.

Can I Sue if I Was Raped as a Child?

Yes. You can sue if you were raped as a child. The California child rape laws, which fall under the sexual abuse act, have a provision for any person who was raped as a child to present their case. It is possible to sue an alive or dead person for rape.

California child molestation laws criminalize sex engagement with a person under 18 years. However, the penalties vary depending on the child’s age involved. Younger minors have a more significant penalty than those who abuse older minors. Charges can either be misdemeanor or felony, which attract life imprisonment as the penalty.

California Child Sexual Abuse Laws

The child sex abuse laws are explained under the California Penal Code sections 288, 287, 288.2, 288.3, 288.5, 288.6, 261.5, and 647.6. A minor has a different definition under each statute and provides different consequences. Penal code 288 states that it is a crime for anyone to do a lascivious or lewd act on a child. Code 287 criminalizes oral copulation with a child.

We also have code 288.2, which is against the seduction of children by sending obscene content to them. Under section 288.3, it is a crime to contact a minor with the intention of a felony. It is a crime to arrange a meeting with the intent to engage in sexual activity with a minor, as stipulated in penal code 288.4.

Continuous engagement in sexual abuse of a child under 14 is a crime according to code 288.5. Code 288.7 makes it a crime to engage in sex with a child below the age of 10. Any act that annoys a child or motivates the child below 18 to have sex is a crime under code 647.6.

The age of consent to sex in California is 18, and the Penal Code 261.5 defines crimes associated with unlawful sex with minors.

California Child Sexual Abuse Attorneys

Child sexual abuse attorneys play a critical role in supporting children who have undergone abuse. Experienced attorneys at Goodwin-Moreno Law Firm create a platform where the victims of sexual assault or sexual abuse can sue their perpetrators. We do not only stick to children, If there is a person who was abused as a child and now is a grownup, we can also do a childhood sexual abuse lawsuit.

The work of the attorneys in cases where the suit is after a long time is to help the abused person to gather the evidence of the assault. It will also involve understanding what the abused person must do to ensure that the case they are presenting is successful.

Child Sexual Abuse Attorneys in California

A child abuser attorney is an essential person in the administration of justice. They have a good understanding of the issues related to abuse and neglect against children. Various contexts and motives become visible when the attorneys thoroughly assess the situations.

California has over 288 attorneys that deal with matters of child sexual abuse and do the child sexual molestation lawsuit processes. We at Goodwin-Moreno Law Firm have lawyers with expertise in child sexual abuse that assess the cases of abuse and help the abused children to report the cases to the courts. After reporting the cases, we go-ahead to represent the children to ensure that they get justice.

The major challenge that abused children and child sexual abuse lawyers face is that the perpetrators of the children are persons they trust. When these persons commit the crimes, the children get stranded about what they should do. A few report the cases while others bury their heads in the sand. Moreover, parents and the closest persons who should help the children treat the abuse as shameful and keep quiet about it.

Child Sexual Abuse and Religious Organizations

It becomes a tough decision to sue the clergy if involved in the sexual abuse of children. However, at Goodwin-Moreno Law Firm we have lawyers with experience in child sexual abuse and can help you sue the catholic church if their clergy has been involved in sexual abuse.

If church leaders have committed crimes, church members may believe it is wrong to bring them before the law. The children end up not getting justice and, at times, remain neglected. For instance, if the Mormon church, is involved in several acts of child sexual abuse, it becomes difficult to know the exact individuals who committed the crime. Community responsibility comes in at this point, and the child sexual molestation attorneys can sue the Mormon church for sexual abuse and molestation. Such a measure is appropriate because the administration of such institutions will take responsibility to ensure that their communities engage in ethical conduct and proper care for children.

Child Sexual Abuse and Police Departments

The police departments, at times, become a hindrance to the administration of justice. It is also common to have the officers commit sexual abuse crimes against the children they are supposed to protect.

With the help of experienced child sexual abuse attorneys at Goodwin-Moreno Law Firm, Abused children can sue the police department. We will help to get the individuals involved in the act. If it becomes impossible, then the whole department will take responsibility to ensure that the children get justice.

Child Sexual Abuse and Learning Institutions

At times, learning institutions such as schools and daycare centers provide grounds for child sexual abuse. Teachers, workers, or other students commit sexual offenses against children. It is common for teachers to engage in sexual activities with learners who happen to be minors or adolescents. At times the bigger students who have exposure to sexual activities begin to abuse the smaller children. In such cases, the schools have to take responsibility for the well-being of the pupils.

You can sue your teacher with the help of child abuse attorneys. The teachers are involved either directly or indirectly. A teacher who directly commits sexual abuse offenses has to face the law as an individual and take responsibility for the crime.

The sexual offenses at times come as a result of neglecting duties by the teachers. A sexual abuse incident can happen when the teacher is absent in a position where they are supposed to be present. In such a case, justice for the child will come after the teacher gets penalized for not providing security.

Teachers have also been involved in sexual molestation, especially of teenagers. Learners above the age of 14 can be sexually active, but until they are 18, they have no consent for sex. Sexual molestation may happen to a single learner or several learners. They may also involve a single teacher or several teachers. A lawyer with expertise in child sexual abuse has to thoroughly assess such incidences and then develop the best way to present their cases.

You can sue your teacher for sexual molestation when they have a direct link to the crime. The law provides a person who engages in sexual molestation or directs the children toward sex is liable for the suit.

In some instances, you may have to sue your school counselor. The position of a school counselor is essential in the healing of the emotional distress of children. A child who has undergone sexual abuse is likely to report to the school counselor for advice and therapy sessions. The school counselor’s role is to ensure that they have provided accurate advice to the child and then offer protection. While offering protection, the counselor involves the attorney, who should guide on the legal procedures.

The counselor must also assume responsibility for the engagement of the administration. If the counselor does not take the necessary steps to provide security for the child and facilitate the execution of justice, then a child sexual molestation lawsuit becomes inevitable. Child sexual molestation lawsuits demand that the victim gets proper protection from their caregivers.

Learning institutions have direct responsibility for the activities that take place in school. Children’s sexual abuse is one thing they have to ensure that they don’t occur in school. School is also a very close element to a child’s growth. It is responsible for knowing the welfare of the children while within the school and may have to assess even the things that happen outside the school.

You can sue the school administrator and the educator for sexual assault. If they have not taken care of child abuse cases within the school and followed the necessary legal procedures. In some instances, the officeholders of the positions may use their offices to commit crimes. An attorney that is experienced in child abuse from Goodwin-Moreno Law Firm may step in to assess such crimes and take legal action against them.

Child Sexual Abuse and Therapists

Therapists are responsible for the healing of the children once they have undergone abuse. There may be instances of sexual assault on the children during the process. It is also possible that additional sexual abuse cases are reported to the therapist as part of the healing process. You will have to sue your therapist for sexual assault and sexual abuse if they commit the crime during the process.

Cases that arise during the healing process need to go through legal procedures. To ensure that the children have the privilege to get justice and trust the therapy procedures’ power, the involved professionals must take proper responsibility. They have to ensure that they do not victimize the children and that no abuse goes unreported.

Child Sexual Abuse Within the Community

Other child sexual abuse cases happen within the children’s environments. Strangers and people who know the children happen to be the victims of these abuses. Parents and the community have to sue for child sexual abuse. These cases have to be reported to help to trace the persons who have committed the crimes. It should be a combined effort to know who the perpetrator is and ensure that legal actions take place.

Through the child abuse attorneys, the community has to sue the perpetrator and ensure that they protect the sexual abuse victim. One of the challenges that arise after children have undergone sexual abuse is that the perpetrators protect themselves too. They do this by threatening the victims or, at times, bribing them not to report the cases.

There are also incidences where the perpetrator interferes and compromises the justice system. It is good to have an experienced child abuse attorney handle the case.

The child or the child’s legal caregiver sometimes becomes a victim of the cases they handle. A perpetrator may threaten the child and also threaten the legal caregiver. Such situations mean that the child will not get justice which becomes emotionally damaging. Getting legal protection is necessary when handling cases of child sexual abuse.

It is important to sue for physical and emotional abuse. Perpetrators must undergo the justice system for all the crimes they have injected into the abused child. The attorney must ensure that there is no more emotional and physical damage to their victims during the legal process.

Attorneys Specializing in Childhood Sexual Abuse

Attorneys specializing in childhood sexual abuse must ensure that they have undergone thorough training and have the know-how to handle the cases. It works perfectly if they belong to reputable law firms specializing in child abuse.

Statute of Limitations

One of the concerns that arise in the legal procedures is when a suit should take place. States have different approaches to the statute of limitations because, in some cases, the victims realize they underwent abuse after several years. California has amended the Sexual Abuse Penal Act that allows the survivors of child sexual abuse to sue no matter their age before January 2023. This amendment comes in to hold the perpetrators and everyone involved in managing the situations accountable. Evidence is from the witnesses of the time of the incident.

The childhood sexual abuse lawsuit now allows everyone who underwent sexual abuse in the past to sue. It provides the opportunity to raise the complaint about child abuse until the victim is above 40 years. Change in attitude has also arisen regarding the childhood sexual molestation lawsuit. The provisions by the child sexual molestation lawsuit under the amendment bill have a clear guideline about what a child should do in cases of sexual molestation. Although providing evidence for the sexual abuse of children is a challenge, the children, through attorneys, can sue the child molester.

Suits for Child Sex Abuse

You can sue someone for Child Sex Abuse regardless of when the event took place. To sue the child molester, you will need evidence that the incident occurred and know the perpetrator. In cases where the perpetrator is unclear, you may also sue the organization, the institution, or the person in charge for not providing safety.

If you were sexually abused many years ago, we have good news. Under the California sexual abuse amendment bill, victims of childhood sexual abuse have until January 2023 to report the cases so that the suit process can occur. The process is simple. For instance, if I was sexually molested a long time ago, I will need to remember the incident and the persons I involved in managing the situation. They will testify as witnesses, and then the court will assess the case and deliver justice to the molester and me.

Child sexual harassment leaves a lot of negativities in the victim’s life. Anxiety, flashbacks, insomnia or depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder are some of the negatives that remain in the lives of the victims. These negatives remained even when the child was molested or sexually abused as a minor. In most cases, if the healing process is not proper, the negatives become a lifetime experience for the children.

You can sue the individual who assaulted or molested you, even if the abuser or molester is deceased. It looks slightly not practical, but the new amendment bill addresses issues such as assets. If the molester has assets such as estates, rental properties, bank accounts, etc., managing the case becomes easier because there is enough compensation.

Organizations and institutions can also do compensation for their members who were child molesters. You can file the lawsuit anonymously and let the justice system investigate the outcome and the form of compensation. It is important because it prevents other children from being sexually abused.

Suits for sexual assault or abuse for victims who were minors can take place anytime, so long as there is evidence and traces. The victim can use any available evidence to convince the attorney to take up the case. Things such as the medical reports, written documents, and people who can witness the case help make it a success.

Child Sexual abuse is a headache in many countries worldwide. California has led from the forefront in the creation of solutions. It has come up with laws that help bring the perpetrators to book and deliver justice to the child victims. More interesting is that it has come up with amendments that help even those who underwent child abuse a long time ago to get justice.

Give us a call now to discuss your case. Our skilled child sexual abuse attorneys are dedicated to ensuring that you receive justice and those child sexual abusers are held accountable.