Understanding California’s Sexual Abuse Laws
You may have seen criminal cases where the crime victim or his or her surviving relatives asked the judge not to impose the harshest sentences. These survivors’ motivations may have been a sense of justice that has no room for revenge or excessive punishments, or their motivation may have been to take the moral high ground. They might also have realized that a criminal penalty for the person who assaulted them or otherwise harmed them will not give them back the money or health that they lost because of the defendant’s actions.
When the justice that people want takes the form of compensation for the harm caused by what the defendant did or failed to do, then the most appropriate venue is the civil courts, not the criminal courts. The purpose of civil lawsuits is for the plaintiff, who is the injured party, to request compensation from the defendant in the amount of the financial losses that the defendant caused, both for the plaintiff’s medical bills and for the income that the plaintiff missed out on because of the disruptions caused by the defendant’s negligence. This principle applies to survivors of sexual abuse as much as it does to survivors of armed robberies and to people injured in traffic accidents or accidental falls. A Whittier sexual abuse claims lawyer can help you file a civil lawsuit against the person who abused you or the entity that failed to prevent the abuse.
Who Has the Right to File a Sexual Abuse Lawsuit?
Anyone who has experienced sexual abuse and suffered from financial losses as a result, has the right to file a civil lawsuit against the person who perpetrated the abuse or the entity responsible for the interactions between the abuser and the victim, such as the school district if the victim was a student and the abuser was a school employee, or the diocese or denomination if the abuser was a clergy member or an employee of a church-affiliated school or youth program. In sexual abuse claims law, the definition of sexual abuse is broader than the definition of sexual assault in criminal law. It covers many different sex crimes, from solicitation of a minor to stalking, as well as some actions that do not fit the definition of criminal offenses. These are some scenarios where someone might have grounds for a sexual abuse lawsuit:
- A camp counselor made sexual advances toward a teenager at a summer camp or engaged in inappropriate touching
- A work supervisor targeted an employee with quid pro quo sexual harassment, threatening to get her fired from her job if she did not date him
- A teacher sent sexually explicit text messages to a student
- A sexual assault occurred in a university dormitory, and both the perpetrator and the victim were students
The Time Limits for Filing a Sexual Abuse Lawsuit
The statute of limitations is the deadline for filing a lawsuit in connection to an incident, and the statute of limitations for sexual assault cases varies according to the circumstances. If you were an adult when the sexual abuse happened, then the deadline for filing a lawsuit is 10 years after the abuse occurred. If you were a minor when the abuse occurred, then the statute of limitations is your 40th birthday.
If the defendant in the sexual abuse claim is a government entity, such as a city, a county, or a school district, you must meet another deadline, even if you do not file the lawsuit in court until years later. You must file a government claim within six months of the incident of abuse.
Protecting Your Privacy as You Seek Justice
Intimidation by abusers and the entities connected to them is a major reason why so few cases of sexual abuse result in criminal charges or civil lawsuits. Marsy’s Law is a California law that protects crime victims from harassment by defendants and by other people who have an incentive to prevent the victims from seeking criminal charges. Among the rights granted by this law are the right to have information about your address and employment remain confidential and the right to refuse requests for interviews and information by the defendant’s attorneys during the pretrial discovery phase.
Contact the Law Offices of Omar Gastelum About Sexual Abuse Claims
A sexual abuse claims attorney can help you file a civil lawsuit related to childhood sexual abuse. Contact the Law Offices of Omar Gastelum and Associates APLC in Whittier, California, to set up a consultation.
Sources
https://oag.ca.gov/victimservices/content/bill_of_rights#:~:text=Under%20Marsy’s%20Law%2C%20the%20California,criminal%20or%20juvenile%20justice%20process.
A Whittier sexual abuse claims lawyer can help you file a government claim or civil lawsuit against the party responsible for your abuse.
