You May Recover Compensation For Abuse
Childhood sexual abuse causes devastating life changes. Sexual abuse can alter personality development and corrupt personal relationships over a lifetime. It can rob people of their childhood and replace happiness with grief and suffering for the survivor and his or her family.
While no amount of money can repair the damage done to a child and their family by a child molester, suing a school, church, Boy Scouts, camp operator or other third parties that failed to supervise and prevent molestation is the only financially worthwhile lawsuit. Most molesters do not have substantial assets (a minimum net worth of $1 million) to secure the funds necessary for medical costs, counseling and long-term disability. Homeowners insurance is no longer available to pay for the damages caused by a molester.
If your child or a child you know has been a victim of molestation, sexual abuse or assault and you believe a third party failed to protect your child, contact Alexander Law Group, LLP, immediately to discuss your rights and the legal care that we can provide.
Fact About Child Molestation You Need To Know
Children who report sexual abuse often have to tell several people before any action is taken. It is rare for a child to lie about abuse. If a child has reported sexual abuse to you, take it seriously.
- Parents and children most often know the child molester.
- Approximately 60% of molesters are known to the child but are not family members, such as family friends, neighbors, club leaders, camp counselors or teachers.
- Approximately 30% of molesters are family members, such as fathers, brothers, uncles or cousins.
- Approximately one out of every four girls and one out of every six boys are sexually abused in the U.S.
- Childhood sexual abuse is not a rare occurrence. It happens every day in families just like yours, in communities just like yours.
Molesters often exploit positions of authority by creating a sense of trust and friendship with the child. Many molesters will continue their abuse over time by demanding secrecy of what they often call a “special” or “loving” relationship.
Child abusers often do not use force, but instead “groom” the child by using manipulative tactics such as giving gifts, taking the child for special activities or exposing the child to pornography.
With rare exceptions, child molesters are men who have placed themselves in a position where they have been trusted to instruct, guide and serve children: priests, ministers, teachers, scout leaders, camp counselors, coaches, club leaders, dentists, doctors, therapists, crossing guards and volunteer school aides.
What Are The Effects Of Childhood Sexual Assault?
The psychological scars of child molestation can be enduring with terrible consequences in every facet of life and at great cost emotionally, and even financially, to the survivor and their family.
The effects of childhood sexual abuse can include:
- Physical injury
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Post-traumatic stress or complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Other serious psychological conditions
- Severe emotional pain
- Loss of self-esteem, damage to self-worth and destroyed self-confidence
Abused children who receive therapy soon after being molested have the best psychological outcomes and develop an understanding that what happened was not their fault. Delayed discovery and delayed psychological counseling can take a devastating toll and require years of therapy and support.
We Keep Confidentiality In Childhood Assault Cases
Our protocol is to keep the lawsuit and the results confidential, avoiding unnecessary publicity. There have been only a few exceptions when we could not maintain confidentiality. This was when the case was tried in open court and when a last-minute settlement was placed on the record in open court.
- The San Jose Mercury News in McGreevy v. Abbott: “Monday’s verdict before Superior Court Judge Conrad L. Rushing is thought to be the first of its kind against a child molester in Santa Clara County …”
- The San Francisco Chronicle: “A young San Jose woman who was sexually molested by her stepfather nine years ago was awarded $210,000 worth of real estate yesterday as compensation for the psychological damages she suffered. ‘We took every penny he had, which was our intention,’ said attorney Richard Alexander, who represented 18-year-old Julie Baker in her lawsuit against Ralph Meyer, 52. The suit was scheduled to go to trial yesterday in Santa Clara County Superior Court, but was settled at the last minute.”
- Other than these cases, awards and settlements have remained confidential.
Prior Accusations Of Child Sexual Abuse Are Common
All too often when a family comes to us, we discover that:
- There were prior accusations of molestation by other children.
- Those accusations were dismissed with no investigation or downplayed, with the molester receiving only a reprimand, a transfer, or, in some cases, a quiet dismissal, but with no official charges.
- Nothing had been done to get the predator, an accused child molester, away from future prey.
In these situations, the child molester had other victims and could have been stopped, but their employer or the board that governs them dismissed or downplayed the accusations or engaged in an outright coverup for the sake of their own reputation while doing nothing to protect the children.
We Have Pursued Legal Action On Behalf Of Childhood Abuse Survivors
We have successfully pursued legal action against perpetrators of childhood sexual assault, as well as organizations negligent in responding to allegations of childhood sexual assault or negligent in dealing with accused offenders, including:
- Individual perpetrators
- Bay Area schools and school districts, including Palo Alto School District, Mountain View-Los Altos High School District and Harker Academy
- Medical care providers, including Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Permanente Medical Group Inc.
- Government agencies, including San Mateo and Tulare counties
- Child care service providers, including Carmen’s Child Care Services
- Child sports providers, including Little League Baseball, Tri-City Little League, Sunnyvale-Cupertino PAL/Pop Warner Football and Peninsula Pop Warner Football
Hold Perpetrators Accountable For Abuse
While no amount of money can repair the damage done to a child and their family by a child molester, for over 30 years, Richard Alexander and the Alexander Law Group, LLP, have relentlessly pursued every possible avenue available to ensure that sexually abused children will have the funds necessary for the medical and psychological counseling they will need throughout their lives.
We are advocates for our clients and we invite you to read what our clients have to say about us. We operate on a contingent fee basis, which means we never charge a fee or costs unless you make a recovery.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of childhood sexual abuse, molestation or sexual assault, contact our firm immediately to discuss survivors’ rights and the legal care that we can provide. Call 888-777-1776 or send us an email.