Sexual Assault and Abuse Claims

The psychological impact of crime including sexual abuse and assault varies substantially from individual to individual.  And while most victims are resilent and many victims recover on their own, some victims develop persistent problems that may last a lifetime.  Statistics show that 80% of victims of sexual abuse are under the age of 18.  Of those, between 20% and 30% are women and between 10% and 15% are men.  Furthermore, while there is a difference between being affected and being substantially harmed, interpersonal crimes such as these have the strongest psychological impact.

For those individuals who do not quickly return to baseline or fail to recover within months without treatment, the persistent effects of sexual abuse can result in an extreme or significant acute response that results in either no recovery or continued deterioration.  These acute responses can be (1) crime-specific psychological conditions such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), (2) Non-specific psychological conditions such as substance abuse disorders, depression, or other conditions with multiple pathways, (3) exacerbation of pre-existing conditions, or (4) personal and crime specific factors that interact to produce individual consequences.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a trauma specific diagnosis that requires exposure to trauma and subjective experience of fear/horror/helplessness that results in impairment.  Considered a "failure to recover" it is often co-morbid with other conditions such as depression and other anxiety related disorders.  If it lasts for more than 6 months, it is considered chronic and often requires treatment for recovery and may persist for many years.  Risk variables for the individual may include gender, temperament or constitutional characteristics, prior psychiatric history or prior trauma.  Crime specific variables may include the severity of the crime, perceived life threat, shame, and exposure to multiple episodes over extended periods of time.
Bookmark and Share

Blog for Sexual Assault and Abuse Claims

Library for Sexual Assault and Abuse Claims:

  • Kentucky plaintiffs hope Vatican will "reconnect" with US victims   
    Description: Some see an opportunity in a recent lawsuit seeking to hold the Vatican liable for sexual abuse by American priests. They argue that this is a chance for the Vatican to reconnect with, and show solidarity to, Americans who feel betrayed by their church and may have lost faith through the recent wave of reports of sexual abuse.
  • California suit alleges church protected abusive priest   
    Description: A suit brought by a man in California alleges that he was abused by a priest in his parish in the 1960s, and that this priest was then shuttled between three continents over the following decades as a means to cover up his action. However, the suit claims that in the subsequent placements, the priest continued to molest children, and that Vatican officials put the Church's reputation ahead of the welfare of those children.
  • Belgian police raid offices of church in abuse case   
    Description: Belgian authorities raided the headquarters of a Catholic Archbishop. The search was carried out in response to complaints of sexual abuse occurring within the territory of the archdiocese. The raid took place in the middle of a meeting of bishops, and many Church documents, especially those relating to investigations of sexual abuse, were seized.
  • Vatican seeks to block attorney's attempt to question Pope in Kentucky sex abuse case   
    Description: A federal judge will decide whether to allow a request to question Pope Benedict under oath in a Kentucky sex abuse case. The main issues in whether to permit the request involve the Pope's involvement in the day-to-day operations of Catholic bishops and the Pope's status as a foreign head of state.
  • Los Angeles archdiocese sued for fraud in sex abuse case   
    Description: A new suit against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is noteworthy for its inclusion of a fraud allegation, which is significant in sexual abuse cases because there is no statute of limitations for fraud. As the statute of limitations is often the single most significant factor in the success of a sexual abuse claim, this case could be part of a larger trend in the law toward increased options to victims of sexual abuse.
  • Laicization debated as proper response to abuse   
    Description: The crux of the Catholic Church sexual abuse controversy is the Church's failure to kick out priests who are shown to be child molestors. However, the difficult process of removing a priest, according to some, may not be the right answer, as it would free these priests to pursue their perversities in private, without any hope of supervision or stopping them.
  • Class-action status sought for Delaware victims of alleged pedophile pediatrician   
    Description: Lawyers seek more possible victims of an alleged pedophile pediatrician to add on to a class-action suit.
  • Los Angeles Archdiocese yet to disclose allegedly abusive priests' personnel files   
    Description: The Catholic Church has yet to honor a settlement agreement in which it promised to release personnel files of priests accused of sexual abuse. The documents are the only unfulfilled portion of the agreement, which also included $600 million in restitution.
  • Cardinal Levada said to have mixed record on adjudicating abuse cases   
    Description: The cardinal in charge of investigating and adjudicating sex abuse within the Church has been more progressive than others in calling for inquiries into abuse and demanding accountability from Church officials. At the same time, he has remained traditional in his handling of individual cases, failing to significantly investigate or punish sexually abusive priests.
  • Diocese of Charlotte settles abuse case for $1M   
    Description: The Diocese of Charlotte has agreed to pay a $1 million settlement to a man who claims he was sexually abused by a priest when he was an altar boy.
  • Pope admits church's guilt in abuse scandal   
    Description: The Vatican has not yet been held liable in any sex abuse cases in the U.S. However, Pope Benedict has issued statements apologizing for the Church's culpability and admonishing Church officials for failing to address the needs of both forgiveness and justice. Despite his words, the Church has yet to defrock or significantly punish any of the actual perpetrators of child abuse.
  • Indianapolis archdiocese settles abuse case for $199K   
    Description: The Catholic Church has reached a $199,000 settlement agreement with a man who claimed to have been sexually abused by a priest in 1977.
  • Burlington, VT, diocese settles 26 abuse cases for $18M   
    Description: The Catholic Church has decided to settle in an $18 million lawsuit brought against it by twenty-six former altar boys in Vermont on grounds of sexual abuse. This is only the latest in a string of lawsuits targeting the Church for negligent hiring.
  • Vatican to seek dismissal of Kentucky abuse suit   
    Description: The Vatican will argue that a lawsuit being brought against it in Kentucky over bishops allegedly allowing child-abusing priests to continue with impunity is improper. The Vatican's case relies on an argument that a Church document requiring secrecy in church-based sex abuse trials does not constitute a cover-up.
  • Archbishop Dolan's role in church abuse scandal considered   
    Description: Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York, faces criticism for the way he defended the Church aggressively against sexual abuse lawsuits before coming to New York. Bishops and Archbishops face tremendous pressure from all sides in deciding how to address the problem of sexual abuse in the Church, and the best interests of society are not the only ones represented in that balancing act.
  • Oregon man suing Portland archdiocese over abuse   
    Description: A man in Oregon has filed a $2.8 million lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Portland, claiming that psychological trauma he incurred as a child when he was raped by a priest is to blame for his life of misery and attempt at suicide.
  • Boy Scouts lagged in efforts to protect children from molesters   
    Description: The Boy Scouts of America have never been particularly vigilant in rooting out adult sexual predators from their volunteers and employees. Only recent years have seen them expand efforts at enforcing background checks to protect children under their care. However, many preventive measures remain optional, and the BSA has a long way to go before it catches up to modern standards of child protection.
  • US backs Vatican immunity in sex abuse case   
    Description: The Solicitor General's office is asking the Supreme Court to overturn a 9th Circuit decision that would allow a suit against an ex-priest to proceed with the Vatican as one of the defendants. The ruling would erode some of the Vatican's diplomatic immunity, which it has long enjoyed as a foreign state, on U.S. soil.
  • Former students' abuse suit against Brooklyn high school to proceed to discovery   
    Description: Nine former students of Brooklyn's Poly Prep Country Day School enjoyed a victory as their motion for discovery of essential documents and testimony to their case alleging sexual abuse was granted. The students claim that the school actively covered up sexual abuse perpetrated by one of its football coaches from 1966 to 1991.
  • Canon law guides church's response to clergy sexual abuse   
    Description: The Catholic Church has a special set of rules for the investigation and punishment of priests accused of sexual abuse; these rules are part of the Church's "canon law." The church follows and enforces canon law entirely independently from public law, but the rules and procedures canon law entails can sometimes cause obstructions in the pursuit of public justice. However, it is abundantly clear that punishments for guilty clergy under canon law are not nearly as severe as public law consequences.

    • View All

Web Resources for Sexual Assault and Abuse Claims:

  • PA School Watch

    Description: A Pennsylvania organization providing updated information regarding sexual predator teachers and important developments in this field.

  • The Foundation to Abolish Child Sex Abuse

    Description: A Pennsylvania organization devoted to providing the latest news, questions about Statutes of Limitations across the country, links to other sites, and facts about the sexual abuse of children and the campaign to abolish same.

  • Bishop Accountability

    Description: An organization that monitors and reports on important developments in the field of sexual abuse by clergy

  • National Association to Prevent Sexual Abuse of Children (NAPSAC)

    Description: National Organization dedicated to protecting children from sexual abuse which is an American tragedy. Estimates from the FBI and academic studies indicate that one in four girls is sexually abused before the age of eighteen and one in six boys will be abused before the age of eighteen.

    • View All

©2010 The Monahan Law Practice, All Rights Reserved, Reproduced with Permission
Attorney website design by Foster Web Marketing, the best attorney website design solution on the Web offering search engine optimization for attorneys, lawyer website design, video for attorneys, and more.
Get SEO Tips from The Attorney Internet Marketing Blog

Served By: A