West Palm Beach sexual abuse lawsuit

Certain Florida child sexual abuse civil claims will have a much shorter statute of limitations than some appellate courts had previously ruled due to a new decision by the Florida Supreme Court. The case involved a conflict among lower Florida courts about the accrual of civil claims for sexual abuse. West Palm Beach sexual abuse attorneys

Almost every kind of legal action in Florida – whether it’s prosecution for a crime or a civil claim for monetary damages – is subject to a time limit on how long you have to file. For example, most Florida personal injury claims must be filed within four years of the date the injury occurred. For medical malpractice, it’s two years. There are some exceptions, but courts are pretty strict on this.

As our West Palm Beach sexual abuse lawyers can explain, a civil claim usually “accrues” (meaning the clock for the statute of limitations starts ticking) at the time the incident occurs. However, there are some kinds of claims for which the statute of limitations won’t accrue for a delayed period of time. One of those – sometimes – is child sex abuse cases. Continue reading

Many Florida sexual abuse lawsuits stem from a violation of trust by someone in a position of power. Cases in recent years have included coaches, teachers, health care workers, bosses, corrections officers and clergy. South Florida sexual abuse lawsuit

Although a survivor of sexual abuse by any perpetrator may have grounds to claim civil liability damages against that individual, cases with at least one third-party defendant tend to have a higher chance of success in terms of an actual payout. Many third-party defendants in sexual abuse cases are organizations, institutions and agencies that owed a duty to protect the victim – and failed.

One such case recently reported on by The Tampa Bay Times stemmed from a 2018 incident in which a 19-year-old woman was admitted involuntarily to a local hospital under the state’s Baker Act. Because there was concern she might harm herself, her family was not permitted to see her and she was assigned one-one-one mental health evaluation and care. According to the recently-filed Florida sexual abuse lawsuit, that employee sexually groomed and abused the patient over a five-day period. The employee was later fired, arrested and convicted of sexual misconduct. He was sentenced to six years of probation and required to register as a sex offender. Now, both he and his former employer are being sued. Continue reading

Articles Tagged with West Palm Beach sexual abuse lawsuit

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