South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

A 28-year-old woman who says a male nurse sexually assaulted her is suing Bethesda Memorial Hospital for Boynton Beach personal injury. In her Palm Beach County sexual abuse lawsuit, she identifies herself as ‘Jane Doe.’

The woman says the assault happened last September. She had been admitted to the Boynton Beach hospital for treatment of a digestive order and she says that she woke up to find enneth Shing-Cheung Lee inappropriately touching her. She says that she immediately ran to the nurse’s situation to report what happened. The woman contends that hospital officials didn't take her claims seriously, which is why she contacted police.

The accused nurse has denied the sex abuse allegations. However, the plaintiff said that she doesn’t think this is the first time that he has sexually abused a patient.

Sexual Abuse and Assault by Medical Professionals
Working in close physical proximity with patients gives doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals intimate physical access to each person, which can make it easy for those seeking to molest or sexually assault another person to commit this crime. Unfortunately, the sexual abuse of patients at hospitals, assisted living facilities, and in other nursing and medical care settings happens more often than you’d like to think.

Not only is this wrongful action medical negligence on the professional’s part, but also it is a crime and can be grounds for a Boynton Beach personal injury lawsuit seeking damages for sex abuse/assault. Even lasting longer than the physical injuries are the emotional and psychological scars that can remain following an incident of sexual abuse. There is no way to quantify the extent of all your injuries, but this doesn’t mean you cannot hold your assailant or any party that allowed the abuse from happening liable in civil court.

Sex Abuse Lawsuit Filed Against S. Fla. Hospital, CBS Miami, December 8, 2011

Woman claims sexual assault by Bethesda Memorial nurse, files lawsuit, Palm Beach Post, December 8, 2011

More Blog Posts:
Child Sex Abuse Scandal Rocks Penn State and Leads to Ousting of Legendary State football coach Joe Paterno, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, November 9, 2011

$550,000 Miami Injury Settlement Approved for Woman Who Was Kidnapped and Raped by Cop, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, October 14, 2011

St. Lucie County Personal Injury Lawsuit: Teacher Accused of Florida Sex Abuse, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, October 4, 2011

Our Miami personal injury lawyers represent children and adults in South Florida seeking to recover damages for injuries they sustained as a result of sexual abuse. We know how devastating injuries from sexual assault and molestation can be for the victims, and we are sensitive to our clients’ situations while doing our best to obtain financial recovery.

Occasionally, on our South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog site, we report on related stories occurring outside the state. One headline that has been making national papers is the allegations against ex-Penn State football defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. The 67-year-old has been indicted on 40 criminal counts for allegedly sexually abusing a number of boys over a 15-year period.

After retiring from the college in 2009, Sandusky continued to use the school’s facilities to work with at-risk kids, some of whom he allegedly molested and sexually assaulted. The child sex abuse incidents occurred over a 15-year-period.

Famous Penn State football coach Joe Paterno has been fired because he didn’t do more to stop the abuses from happening. Meantime, Tim Curley, who is Penn State’s athletic director, and Gary Schultz, who is business vice president, have been charged with perjury for not reporting the sexual abuse allegations.

Our Palm Beach sex abuse lawyers wouldn’t be surprised if the victims, a number of them are now adults, and their families decide to pursue sexual abuse damages not just from Sandusky, but also from Penn State and those that should have known about the abuse or if they did, they then covered up the incidents.

Penn State Scandal Timeline: Key Dates In The Jerry Sandusky Sex Abuse Case, Huffington Post, November 9, 2011

Penn State sex scandal: Jerry Sandusky ran boys camps for years, Los Angeles Times, November 8, 2011

More Blog Posts:
Miami Injury Lawsuit Sues Social Networking Site Over Porn Film Rape, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, October 28, 2011

$550,000 Miami Injury Settlement Approved for Woman Who Was Kidnapped and Raped by Cop, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, October 14, 2011

St. Lucie County Personal Injury Lawsuit: Teacher Accused of Florida Sex Abuse, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, October 4, 2011

An aspiring model has filed a federal lawsuit in Miami suing the social networking site BlackPlanet.com for Florida personal injury. The plaintiff contends that she was drugged, sexually assaulted, and made into a porn star without her consent by men she met through the Web site. Also named as defendants in the Miami personal injury case are Emerson Callum and Lavont Flanders.

The two men are accused of pretending to be talent scouts to get her and eight other women to audition. The nine of them were given Xanax and alcohol before Callum allegedly raped them. Flanders is accused of shooting video the sexual assaults and selling the footage online as pornography.

The plaintiff, known as Jane Doe 11, says she doesn’t remember being raped and she didn’t even know the video existed until her agent found it. According to her Miami personal injury lawyer, the sex crime wouldn’t have happened if BlackPlanet hadn’t been negligent. Her legal team contends that the social networking site, should have known or knew that it had members who were sexual predators.

The victim is seeking $10 million in Miami injury damages from BlackPlanet, Radio One Inc, which is its corporate parent, Flanders, Callum, and three companies that produced and issued the video, which was produced for a series named "Miami's Nastiest Nymphos.”

Flanders and Callum, who are charged with human trafficking, sexual battery, and conspiracy, face life sentences if convicted. Their lawyers say the women signed releases giving their consent to be in the porn movies.

Social Networking Sites and Personal Injury
Can social networking be held liable if they were used to commit a crime. A few months ago, Match.com settled a personal injury lawsuit filed by a woman who was also raped. The plaintiff, Carole Markin, sued the online dating site, which was where she met the man who raped her. She blames Match.com for failing to perform a security background check on members. Her assailant, Alan Paul Wurtzel, had several convictions for sexual assault. The 67-year-old has pleaded no contest to sexual battery.

Markin, who is an author and Hollywood screenwriter, didn’t ask Match.com for any financial compensation. Instead, the online dating site has agreed to conduct security checks on everyone who is a member or applies to join. The settlement came even though courts have so far ruled that networking sites aren’t liable for the physical or financial harm suffered by members.

Rape-porn case puts spotlight on social networking, Miami Herald, October 26, 2011

Match.com settles suit with pledge to screen out sex offenders, Los Angeles Times, August 23, 2011

BlackPlanet.com

More Blog Posts:
$550,000 Miami Injury Settlement Approved for Woman Who Was Kidnapped and Raped by Cop, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, October 14, 2011

Miami Nursing Negligence Lawsuit Accuses Home Care Nurse of Sexually Assaulting Paraplegic Patient, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, September 22, 2011

Mother Files Miami-Dade County Lawsuit Against Opa-Locka Police After Her Mentally Disabled Son’s Alleged Rape, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, May 31, 2011

A woman who was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by a cop will be receiving $500,000 for her Miami personal injuries. The Miami City Commission approved the settlement this week.

The victim was attacked by Officer Michael Ragusa in 2007. The following year, Ragusa, who had sexually assaulted three women pleaded guilty to rape charges and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The former cop would drive his police vehicle around Miami Beach and look for victims. According to the Miami Herald, the last woman he attempted to rape was able to get away because she told him she had an STD. However, he still made her give him her phone number and later texted her. That message was used as evidence to find him.

In her Miami-Dade sexual assault lawsuit the woman accused the police department of failing to notice a number of “red flags” when they added Ragusa, 36, to the force in 2004. Among these were his admission that he had stolen money from restaurants where he’d been a waiter, paid for sexual encounters with hookers and strippers, and was turned down for employment by several other police agencies. The woman accused the Miami police of conducting a “most cursory” background and employment check.

Florida Sexual Assault Lawsuits
If you were the victim of a sexual assault crime, you may be able to pursue Miami injury damages against your assailant. Depending on the specifics of your case, there also may be other liable parties. For example, if inadequate security made it possible for someone to rape you on the premise, then the property owner could be sued. If the assailant committed the sex assault crime while performing his/her duties as an employee, the employer could be found negligent for hiring this person.

Miami City Commission votes to pay $550,000 to victim of rape by police officer, Miami Herald, October 14, 2011

Miami Cop Accused Of Kidnapping, Attempted Rape, News4Jax, March 21, 2007

Related Web Resource:
Miami Police Department

More Blog Posts:
St. Lucie County Personal Injury Lawsuit: Teacher Accused of Florida Sex Abuse, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, October 4, 2011

Miami Nursing Negligence Lawsuit Accuses Home Care Nurse of Sexually Assaulting Paraplegic Patient, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, September 22, 2011

Mother Files Miami-Dade County Lawsuit Against Opa-Locka Police After Her Mentally Disabled Son’s Alleged Rape, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, May 31, 2011

A girl who claims she was molested by Fort Pierce Westwood High School teacher Charles Edward Johnson Sr. is suing him and the St. Lucie County School District for Florida personal injury. The plaintiff contends that Johnson sexually abused her on a number of occasions between January and May 2008 while he was her math teacher.

Johnson was arrested in 2008 on a single count of misdemeanor battery and two felony counts of lascivious/lewd molestation because of complaints made by the plaintiff and another female student. Later that year, Johnson pleaded no contest to three counts of misdemeanor battery. His sentence was the 142 days he had already spent behind bars and over two years probation. Even now, Johnson, who pleaded no contest to the criminal charges, maintains that he is innocent and did not commit the allegations alleged in the St. Lucie County injury lawsuit.

In her St. Lucie County sex abuse lawsuit, the plaintiff is holding the school board “vicariously liable” for the abuse on the grounds that administrators knew or should have known that Johnson was molesting students.

Sex Abuse

Sex abuse can lead to serious emotional and psychological injuries that can impair the victim for life. In Florida, you may file a civil claim over sex abuse within:

• Four years of discovering the injury or the causal link between the abuse and the injury. This is beneficial to those who may have repressed their memories of the abuse and were unable to remember what happened until years after the incident.
• Four years after you are no longer dependent on the abuser.
• Seven years after the age of majority and before you turn 25.

St. Lucie School District, former Fort Pierce teacher sued for alleged molestation, TC Palm, September 26, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Child sex abuse, American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network

More Blog Posts:
Mother Files Miami-Dade County Lawsuit Against Opa-Locka Police After Her Mentally Disabled Son’s Alleged Rape, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, May 31, 2011

Man Files Miami-Dade Child Sex Abuse Lawsuit Naming Catholic Nun as His Abuser, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, April 15, 2011

Coral Springs, Florida Injury Lawsuit Accuses Music Teacher of Molesting Student, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, November 5, 2010

Continue reading "St. Lucie County Personal Injury Lawsuit: Teacher Accused of Florida Sex Abuse " »

A Miami-Dade personal injury lawsuit has been filed accusing a male home health care nurse of sodomizing and harassing a paraplegic in his own home. The defendant of the Miami nursing negligence complaint is A.S.A. Home Care, Inc.

Per the complaint, the nurse started taking care of the victim in 2007. Despite the nurse’s obvious sexual interest in the patient, the latter rejected his overtures. Still, the lawsuit contends, the nurse showed the patient porn, brought him a sex toy, and sexually assaulted him when dressing a wound located close to the buttock area. The nurse then allegedly begged the patient not to tell anyone what happened and threatened to otherwise kill himself.

The plaintiff blames ASA for inadequate supervision, failure to provide him with a secure and safe environment, and neglecting to look into complaints that had made about the nurse.

The plaintiff is seeking more than $5 million in Miami personal injury damages for serious emotional, psychological, and physical injuries, in addition to his humiliation and shame over what happened.

Sexual assault is traumatic, painful, and damaging to the victim. Unfortunately, patients that require nursing care—whether at a Miami nursing home or at home—can fall victim to sexual predators—especially if the patient is extremely, frail, physically incapacitated, mentally ill, and/or unable to fight back/report what happened.

Assisted living facilities and nursing companies can be held liable for Miami nursing abuse if one of their workers abuses or neglects a patient. It can be devastating for your loved one to be hurt or ignored by the person hired to care for him/her.

**Reporting on this case is also important because it serves as a reminder that Florida nursing negligence and abuse doesn't just happen at assisted living facilities. Unfortunately, there are professional nurses and caregivers invited into a patient's home that have been known to cause serious into people they've been hired to provide with professional nursing care.

Lawsuit Claims Nurse Assaulted Paraplegic Man, NBC Miami

ASA Homecare

More Blog Posts:
Miami Herald Reports: Florida Nursing Home Neglect Taking Place at a Number of Assisted Living Facilities, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, May 25, 2011

Bills Seeks to Cap Florida Nursing Home Negligence Damages Over Wrongful Deaths, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, April 20, 2011

Florida Nursing Home Neglect?: Maggots Found in 76-Year-Old Patient at Assisted Living Facility with Palm Beach County Ties, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, September 14, 2010

A 31-year-old woman is suing the Opa-Locka Police Department. She claims that the police refused to enforce the restraining order against her ex-boyfriend Victor Howard. She contends that although she wanted Howard out of her house, she was the one that police threatened to arrest if she didn't go. She claims that they made her leave her mentally disabled son behind, which allowed Howard to allegedly rape and beat him. She says that because to city cops violated her son’s civil rights and left him with her boyfriend.

Howard, 49, has been arrested for the alleged sexual battery of a minor. He has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charge.

The boy, 12, has the intellectual abilities of a small child. He sustained a traumatic brain injury during a car wreck and has been diagnosed with mental retardation that makes comprehension difficult for him. Although Howard is the biological father of two of the plaintiff’s four children, the boy is not his son. The woman says that because the restraining order only gave her sole custody of the two kids that Howard fathered, the cops let the boy stay with him.

Miami-Dade Sexual Assault Cases
If you or someone you love was sexually assaulted, you may be able to sue the attacker for Miami personal injury. In addition to the assailant, there may be others who should also be held liable. For example, if the assault took place on someone else’s property, and that person could have/should have acted to prevent the sexual assault from happening, he/she could be held liable. If there is a party that allowed the assailant to have access to the victim, that party could also be held liable.

Sexual assault is a violent and traumatic crime that can scar a victim for life. There may be a way to hold all negligent parties liable.

Alleged rape victim’s mom sues Opa-locka police, The Miami Herald, May 31, 2011

Opa-Locka Facing Lawsuit Over Alleged Rape, NBC Miami, June 1, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Opa-Locka Police Department

Florida Restraining Orders, Womens Law

More Blog Posts:
Miami Personal Injury: Four Women Claim They Were Sexually Assaulted by Employees at Doral Golf Resort & Spa, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, March 28, 2011

Florida Doctor Named in Sex Abuse Civil Cases Faces Criminal Charges for Alleged Fondling Incidents, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, June 11, 2008

Florida Child Sex Abuse Lawsuit Blames Ft. Lauderdale Church For Failing to Protect Teenager From Adoptive Father, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, May 19, 2008

A South Florida man is suing the Archdiocese of Miami, Archbishop Thomas Wenski, the Dominican Sisters of Adrian, Michigan, and St. James Catholic School for Miami-Dade County personal injury because he says he was sexually abused by a nun. John Doe No. 73, who is from Broward County, claims he was molested Sister Joan Marie, who taught him when he was a first grader at St. James Catholic School in North Miami.

In his Miami sexual abuse complaint, the plaintiff contends that she would call him to the front of lines and rub his body, including his genitals. He says that she sexually abused him twice a week from 1978 to 1979. John Doe, 38, says he decided to file a lawsuit now because his son is going into the fifth grade.

John Doe’s attorney says that the Miami Archdiocese and the Dominican Sisters should have known or knew that the nun was a sexual predator. The plaintiff says that he suffered mental, physical, and emotional injuries that were “severe and permanent” and he experienced humiliation and shame. As a result of his Miami personal injuries, he contends that he has not been able to live a “normal life.”

Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse may leave lasting emotional scars that can severely impact the victim’s life long after it happened. Sexual trauma can cause a person to develop drug or alcohol addictions, eating disorders, intimacy and relationship issues, sexual issues, low self-esteem, trust issues, depression, suicidal tendencies, and other serious problems. Even with counseling, the trauma of being a victim of sexual abuse can have a lasting effect.

Lawsuit Claims Sex Abuse by Miami Nun, NBC Miami, April 14, 2011

Nun sexually abused me, man claims in lawsuit, Miami Herald, April 13, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Archdiocese of Miami

Adrian Dominican Sisters of Adrian, Michigan

More Blog Posts:
Miami-Dade Sex Abuse Lawsuit Names Retired Catholic Priest, South Florida Injury Lawyer, February 24, 2011

South Florida Sex Abuse Lawsuit Seeks $5 Million from Archdiocese of Miami, South Florida Injury Lawyer, October 26, 2010

Miami Archdiocese Settles Sex Abuse Lawsuit Involving Teen and Catholic Church Youth Minister, South Florida Injury Lawyer, October 23, 2008

Another two women reportedly plan to sue Doral Golf Resort & Spa for Miami personal injury. They claim that they too were sexually assaulted by employees will receiving spa treatments at the luxury facility. Already, two women have filed their Florida sexual assault lawsuits.

One spa worker, David Muñoz, has already been charged with one count of sexual battery for allegedly assaulting a woman during a massage. Another masseur, John J. Pacheco, is also accused of sexual assault. The victim that named him told CBS4 that the experience was a “a devastating nightmare.”

Sexual assault is a crime and can also be grounds for a Miami personal injury case against the assailant and other related parties. For instance, another woman has filed a Broward County personal injury case against Henderson Mental Health Center because she claims that her counselor threatened to take her son away from her if she didn’t have sex with him.

Per her Florida injury complaint, the woman joined a mental health program after a judge made her participation a requirement if she wanted to retain custody of her son. However, rather than providing counseling to the woman, Mervin Span, a Henderson Mental Health Center, employe allegedly “demanded” that she give him sexual favors or he would “remove her son from her home.” Jane Doe No. 1’s attorney says that Herman touched his client inappropriately, performed oral sex on her against her will, and raped her on more than one occasion without using a condom. Doe at one point tried to commit suicide.

She is seeking over $5 million. Doe blames the mental health center for the sexual abuse because Henderson allegedly was aware that Span was a “sexual opportunist” who was a “risk to females.”

Doral Spa Facing Two More Sex Assault Suits, NBC Miami, March 8, 2011

Woman Claims Mental Health Counselor Forced Her to Have Sex or Lose Custody of Her Son, Miami New Times, March 23, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Doral Golf Resort & Spa

Henderson Mental Health Center

Rubbed the Wrong Way

Rev. Neil Doherty, a former Roman Catholic priest who has already been named in 25 sex abuse complaints, has been named once again in another case. This one is a Miami-Dade County clergy sex abuse lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Miami.

The complaint accuses Doherty, who is retired and behind Bars in Broward County, of abusing the plaintiff over a 3-year period beginning when he was 8 during the early 90’s. The accuser claims that Doherty, who was with Holy Redeemer Church in Liberty City at the time, would wear his priest’s collar and ride his car through the neighborhood. The plaintiff says that the priest abused him and gave him drugs more than 50 times.

The alleged victim is also claiming the Archdiocese of Miami knew that Doherty had been abusing boys since the 70’s but did not keep the priest away from young kids. Last November, Doherty was arrested on charges he violated the terms of a pretrial release related to his arrest on 2006 on Miami child sex abuse charges. The former priest, who had been under house arrest, was ordered to jail after his GPS device became disconnected for the 8th time since 2009.

One has to only read the news regularly to see that throughout the US, victims are stepping forward and seeking damages for the sex abuse they suffered at the hands of clergy folk. Many of the victims are now grown.

It may not be too late for you to seek Miami injury compensation from your abuser. Sex abuse is an insidious crime that inflicts physical, psychological, and emotional scars that can affect the victim for life. Obtaining injury recovery allows you to hold those responsible liable while also allowing you to take a stand against the person or parties that did you harm.

Retired Catholic priest named in sex-abuse suit, Miami Herald, February 16, 2011

Two More Florida Child Sex Abuse Lawsuits Filed Against Ex-Broward County Priest Awaiting Criminal Trial, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, June 26, 2008

Related Web Resources:
Archdiocese of Miami

Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

More South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog Posts:
South Florida Sex Abuse Lawsuit Seeks $5 Million from Archdiocese of Miami, South Florida Injury Lawyer, October 26, 2010

Miami Archdiocese Settles Sex Abuse Lawsuit Involving Teen and Catholic Church Youth Minister, South Florida Injury Lawyer, October 23, 2008