The California Supreme Court has ruled that sports governing organizations have a duty to protect young athletes from sexual and other abuse. In a recent case we handled involving girls aspiring to be Olympians, their martial arts coach molested them for years. The court ruled that USA Taekwondo could be held liable for the...

Evidence gathering is an important first step in any type of criminal case. Investigators may revisit a crime scene, record witness statements, conduct interviews, or gather evidence straight from victims in an effort to identify and/or build a case against a perpetrator. One of the most common tools in evidence collection in a sexual...

Music teacher Henry Reed in Sunnyvale was arrested for sexually-inappropriate behavior with a minor, Friday January 12, 2017. According to police, Reed worked part-time as a musician's assistant. The name of the school where the incidents took place is being withheld at this time, to protect the identity of the survivor -- the school...

The fight is on in Pennsylvania to remove the statute of limitations for sex abuse victims. Following yet another sex abuse scandal surrounding the Catholic Church, Harrisburg lawmakers are fighting to extend the rights of older sex abuse victims to file a complaint against their abusers and the institutions which enabled them. At the...

If you were sexually abused as a child, you may have considered a lawsuit against your abuser and the institution who enabled him or her, but were prevented from doing so by the statute of limitations. For Minnesota residents, hope is on the horizon. The 2013 Child Victims Act gives Minnesota child sex abuse victims a...

April 15, 2014 Violent sexual abuse aboard cruise ships has been featured in the news over the past couple months, underscoring a larger issue – who exactly is working on vacation cruise ships?  Many of them are non-U.S. citizens, with questionable credentials prior to their hiring.  This is serious cause for concern for vacationers...

April 15, 2014 Summary: Too many children have fallen victim to sexual abuse as a result of inaction at the state and school district level.  Cursory background checks and passing the trash provide sexual predators’ repeated and constant access to our kids, often identifying the predator after they carry out child sexual assault.  U.S....

April 15, 2014 Summary: In 2005, the Ohio Senate unanimously approved a bill that allowed a one-year window for victims to file a lawsuit alleging child sex abuse that had occurred as long as 35 years prior; however, the Catholic Church applied a full-court press on Ohio’s House and got the one-year window stripped...

April 15, 2014 Summary: The definitions associated with sexual abuse are second nature to us, as we have practiced in this area for nearly 20 years.  However, we realize that our readers may not have the same understanding as we do.  So, we compiled a list of common terms and definitions to help. The...

April 30, 2014 Summary: The mishandling of sexual assault allegations on college campuses is a growing problem in the U.S., but only recently has the government stepped in to fix the problem. Horrifying allegations of sexual assaults on college campuses have flooded the news stream in the past few months.  Stories such as victim...