School Sexual Assault Lawyer

When we send our kids off to school, we are placing a significant amount of trust in our local school system to both educate our children and keep them reasonably safe while they are in school. This is why it is so shocking and gut-wrenching when a parent discovers their child has been the victim of sexual assault by a teacher or coach at their school. Such abuse can be so traumatic that your child may require years of psychological and emotional therapy to even approach a full recovery.

You may be thinking, "Of course sexual assault by a school teacher or coach is terrible, but it is so rare, I do not need to really worry about my kid." Think again.

A comprehensive national review of teacher discipline data was conducted by USA Today. This well-respected news publication examined educator misconduct and licensure databases in all fifty states including an exhaustive review of numerous pages employment records and court filings. The findings were truly shocking.

USA Today discovered systematic failures to protect the safety and welfare of students. For example, education agencies nationwide routinely ignored a federal prohibition on signing deals with teachers suspected of abuse. These "secrecy deals" are contracts prohibiting the release of any details of sexual abuse or assault by a teacher in exchange for the teacher quitting their job quietly. These secrecy agreements made it easier for sexually abusive teachers to find new employment in a different school district or in another work setting (e.g., daycare center) where they can work with children.

USA Today discovered that many schools fail to do basic background checks. For example, a private high school in Louisiana hired a teacher who was a registered sex offender in Texas. If that was not bad enough, students at the school were the ones to discover the teacher's troubling past by simply conducting a Google search.

The in-depth investigation by USA Today also revealed that school administrators are rarely penalized by state licensing officials for failing to report a resignation of a teacher with a documented history of problems at the school. This is quite troubling when you consider the fact that forty-one states have laws on the books that require school administrators to report the dismissal or resignation of a teacher to state officials. Unfortunately, violations of these laws virtually never result in a penalty or sanction.

You would think having an alleged sexual assault or incident of abuse on your record would permanently damage your reputation and ability to find new employment. Not for teachers, apparently. Many teachers who were fired after accusations of abusive behavior did not have difficulty finding work elsewhere. For example, a teacher in New Jersey who sexually assaulted a number of elementary school students had a record of prior sexual abuse in a different school district. The same goes for an Oregon substitute teacher who touched a student’s genitals under a table and an Illinois teacher who forced students to eat food from his crotch.

The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing reportedly opened nearly 330 investigations into teachers for sexual crimes against children in 2014. That is more than double the amount in 2008-2009, according to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Other states have seen similar jumps in sexual abuse incidents. For example, Texas has seen a 27 percent increase in the number of investigations into alleged inappropriate teacher-student relationships. In Alabama, the state investigated 31 sexual abuse cases in 2013, nearly triple the number it investigated just four years earlier in 2009.

If you or your child was the victim of sexual abuse by a teacher or coach, you need to stand up and take action. Do not let the abuser succeed by remaining silent. A sexual assault survivor may be able to file a civil legal claim against a defendant, or defendants, other than the abuser. For example, under California law, an employer may be found to be liable for the harmful acts of an employee if there is evidence that the employer failed to investigate earlier complaints or check the perpetrator's references. This type of claim is called "negligent hiring."

If a school hired a teacher who abused you or your child, it is quite possible that the school failed to do its due diligence in checking the background and references of the teacher. If such negligence occurred, your lawyer should be able to pursue a claim against the school for negligent hiring. This is an action brought by individuals who claim that they have been hurt by an employee and the employee’s tendency for causing harm was known to or should have been known to, the employer.

California law provides that an employer has a duty to investigate the background of employees to determine their fitness to teach and conduct other related job duties. A school is also required to continue to remain informed of the employee's fitness for the position. This means that if a school is informed of alleged abuse and does nothing, the school can be held liable for the harms caused by that inaction. The legal elements necessary to prove a negligent hiring claim includes:

• The employer (i.e. the school) had a duty to hire and monitor employees;
• The employer knew or should have known that the employee posed a safety risk to others; and
• The employer breached the duty.
• The employer’s breach of duty caused harm to others.

It is extremely difficult to quantify the harm caused by sexual abuse or molestation at a young age. The effects of sexual abuse can be so traumatizing that it permanently harms the victim for life. Some sexual abuse survivors report diminished interest in social engagement, the inability to engage in a healthy, committed relationship when they became adults, an increased tendency to self-medicate through drugs or alcohol, depression, and so forth. They are also more likely than non-victims to attempt or consider suicide. If you decide to hire a school sexual assault lawyer, one of their primary tasks will be effectively communicating the damage done to you or your child to the defense counsel for the school and/or a jury.

There are many examples of children and their parents standing up and fighting for their rights in court against negligent schools and administrators who tried to sweep sexually abusive teachers under the rug. For example, the Pomona Unified School District was ordered to pay $8 million to a former student who was sexually abused by her middle school teacher in 2011, according to Campus Safety Magazine.

In another example, the San Diego Unified School District was ordered to pay over one million dollars for its role in allowing a teacher to engage in a sexual relationship with a student from the time she was 16 years old until she graduated.

Another multi-million dollar jury verdict worth mentioning involved Chino Hills High School. A jury awarded $5.6 million to the family of a teenager who was sexually abused by her science teacher at this school. The teacher reportedly molested the student and the school district took virtually no action. The evidence showed that the district "punished" the teacher by ordering him not to be around the girl, who was only 14 years old at the time. The district never followed up after issuing this "penalty." The community at large discovered this sickening situation when a neighbor of the student saw the teacher use a ladder to try and get inside the girl's second-story bedroom.

Another example is a verdict in a case involving two boys who were sexually abused by their Los Angeles Unified School District elementary teacher. The Los Angeles jury reviewed the shocking evidence and awarded $3 million to each of the boys in compensation, according to the Los Angeles Times. The abusive teacher is currently serving a 25-year prison term after being convicted of committing lewd acts with thirteen children (yes, the two boys were not his only victims). The school district accepted liability for negligent hiring and supervision and retention of the teacher.

Watch YouTube Video: Music Teacher Sex Abuse Case Triggers Lawsuit Against SJ School District. In the following video, CBS SF Bay Area news reports on a lawsuit that alleges the San Jose Union School District failed to protect students from a sexual predator.

I'm Ed Smith, a Sacramento sexual abuse lawyer who has been practicing personal injury law since 1982. If you or someone you love has been the victim of sexual abuse, please call me today at 916.921.6400 for free, friendly advice.

You can read my client reviews on Google, Yelp, and Avvo, and learn more about my staff on my website. You can view my verdicts and settlements, and learn that I am part of the Million Dollar Forum.

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Image by Wokandapix from Pixabay 

Editor’s Note: This page has been updated for accuracy and relevancy [cha 8.6.19]