Anyone who has experienced any form of sexual abuse from any other person knows how long the physical and psychological scars from this type of mistreatment can last. Money alone obviously cannot make any of what you went through okay or erase every form of trauma it has resulted in, but seeking civil compensation from your abuser and everyone who enabled them can still be key to maximizing your long-term quality of life, as well as to reducing specific financial losses that your abuser has caused you to suffer.
As many people unfortunately learn the hard way, though, pursuing a lawsuit over injuries caused by sexual abuse can be immensely complicated on both legal and personal levels. If you want to ensure your claim has the best possible resolution while also minimizing additional stress for yourself and your loved ones, you should strongly consider seeking support from a sexual abuse lawyer from Phillips Law Group with years of experience fighting on behalf of people much like you.
Holding Institutions Liable for Sexual Abuse
In addition to filing suit against the person or people who directly abused them, victims of sexual misconduct can also often name various people who condoned and/or facilitated that abuse as co-defendants in their claim. In practice, this typically means filing suit against organizations that employed abusers, as well as members of those organizations responsible for operating them and supervising other members of the organization on a daily basis.
The Catholic Church has been for several years and remains to this day a textbook example of how sexual abuse can be allowed and actively worsened at the institutional level through failure to acknowledge and punish abusers even after becoming aware of their abuse. However, a sexual abuse lawyer can help take proactive legal action not only against religious organizations that facilitated abuse, but also against public school systems, private medical companies, and social organizations such as daycares and after-school programs.
How Are Civil and Criminal Sexual Abuse Cases Different?
One very important thing to understand about sexual abuse lawsuits is that filing suit against a sexual abuser is not the same thing as pressing criminal charges against them. While it is often possible to pursue both types of claims simultaneously, criminal cases require the prosecution to prove guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt,” whereas civil cases only require the plaintiff to establish liability for their losses through a “preponderance of the evidence,” which is comparatively a much less strict standard of proof to meet.
Additionally, many states have substantially extended the deadline set by the statute of limitations for civil claims if a claim is built around injuries sustained through childhood sexual abuse, with some states going so far as to completely abolish the statute of limitations for this specific type of case. By comparison, many criminal cases for sexual abuse charges are subject to much shorter statutory deadlines, as a sexual abuse attorney can explain in more detail during a confidential consultation.
Recovering for All Available Damages
The final key difference between criminal sexual abuse cases and civil ones is in what the goal of each case is. Criminal prosecution of a sexual abuser is meant to punish the abuser for their actions and then either rehabilitate or incarcerate them so they cannot harm anyone else in the same way in the future. Conversely, the purpose of civil litigation over sexual abuse is to help the abuse victim move on with their life by reimbursing them for specific losses stemming directly from their abuse.
Compensable damages in this type of claim can include but are not strictly limited to:
- All medical expenses for care made necessary by abuse-related injuries, including expected costs of future rehabilitative and/or therapeutic treatment
- Lost work income and/or earning capacity
- Physical pain and discomfort
- Emotional anguish and psychological trauma
- Lost overall enjoyment of life
Once again, a sexual abuse lawyer can provide more specific information during a private initial meeting about what losses could and should be factored into a particular claim.
A Sexual Abuse Attorney Can Help
No one deserves to be sexually mistreated under any circumstances, and if you have been sexually abused at any point in your life, you are not at all at fault for what happened to you or any losses you have experienced as a result. What may still be your responsibility, though, is enforcing your right to seek civil recovery from the people who are to blame for your abuse.
If you want to pursue this kind of legal action, you have support available to you from a compassionate sexual abuse lawyer with a track record of getting positive results from many cases like yours in the past. Call Phillips Law Group today to discuss your options.
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