Reports of sexual abuse by clergy members have become increasingly common. They go back decades, and often, the church authorities knew about them and protected abusers rather than victims.
Civil courts offer a remedy. If you experienced sexual assault or abuse and your perpetrator had an affiliation with a church, the church can be financially liable for the abuser’s actions. You can contact an attorney at Phillips Law Group for more information about Missouri clergy sexual assault lawsuits.
Reports of sexual abuse in the church encompass many denominations. The abuser could be a pastor, church employee, or volunteer.
Sexual abuse survivors can claim money for mental and physical health impacts, restricted educational and professional success, and diminished quality of life caused by the trauma. The lawyers at Phillips Law Group can interview clergy sexual abuse survivors with sensitivity and compassion to determine the extent of their losses and aggressively seek compensation by filing a lawsuit on their behalf in Missouri courts.
The state’s Attorney General released a report in 2019 indicating there is credible evidence of sexual abuse by 163 priests in numerous parishes and schools in all four dioceses and recommended criminal charges in a dozen cases. The Archdiocese of St. Louis has settled multiple lawsuits brought by people alleging sexual abuse as children. More lawsuits are pending and continue to be filed against the dioceses.
The Church of Latter Day Saints faces a civil lawsuit brought by a young woman and her parents alleging Mormon officials encouraged a sexual relationship between the girl and a church bishop in his 50s. The bishop is serving a federal prison sentence on charges relating to the relationship.
An Episcopal priest was defrocked in 2012 for admitting to molesting five boys in the 1980s and 1990s while serving as a priest in Rolla. More recently, officials of the Missouri Baptist Convention face accusations of allowing a church music director to continue having access to children despite police informing them that he was under investigation for sexually abusing children. There have been multiple incidents of sexual abuse at an evangelical summer camp in Branson over the past 20 years.
Injuries resulting from sexual abuse are often not fully understood by the survivor until many years have passed. They may not feel comfortable acknowledging what happened to them or its impact on their lives until they reach their 40s, 50s, or even older. Unfortunately, state law is not accommodating to sexual abuse survivors.
Missouri Revised Statutes § 516.371 requires a survivor of childhood sexual abuse to file a lawsuit within 10 years of their 18th birthday. If there was a delay before the survivor could link the issues they suffered to childhood abuse after becoming an adult, they can bring a lawsuit within three years of discovery. An adult who suffered sexual exploitation from a clergy member has only five years from the date of the incident to file a lawsuit.
For the past several years, the legislature has considered extending the statute of limitations and even opening a window for survivors who were prevented from bringing claims due to the current short time limit. Unfortunately, these efforts failed. The lawyers at Phillips Law Group can work with survivors to file a lawsuit in clergy sexual assault cases that are not time-barred and, if Missouri law changes, aggressively advocate for older survivors.
Sexual abuse in religious institutions occurs frequently, but abusers may go unpunished. Institutions often conceal the facts, and survivors need time to process what happened to them.
Phillips Law Group brings Missouri clergy sexual assault lawsuits on behalf of survivors. Call today for a free, no-obligation consultation if you are ready to seek accountability.
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