Child Sex Abuse

Readers of our child advocacy legal blog at the Los Angeles law firm of Taylor & Ring know that, unfortunately, child sex abuse is not a narrowly confined and limited issue (and even if it were, of course, that would hardly make it any less tragic). Sadly, and as we have necessarily noted in prior…

The Internet — ubiquitous and powerful — is seemingly a global conduit for every conceivable thing. It provides news coverage to the second, sports and entertainment information and a ready catalog of virtually every song ever written and recorded. It allows users to instantly communicate across the world with others, do homework and research projects…

It’s a start. Would-be legislation in California is, well, would-be. That is, a bill is merely incipient and must clear multiple hurdles before it is deemed finally approved and can be enacted as law. A high-profile bill (SB 813, for short) focused upon the reporting window available for individuals to file legal claims regarding sex…

To any person in California or elsewhere who might believe that criminal law authorities, advocacy groups, compassionate and knowledgeable attorneys and countless other people overstate the case of pedophile-related activity and child sexual abuse, we submit the case of Richard Huckle. Huckle was sentenced by a London court earlier this week to 22 life sentences…

It’s a recurring and sometimes strident debate that often materializes across the country, including in California. Now a prominent businessman and legislator have rekindled the discussion in another state. That state is New York, with the subject being the statute of limitations applicable to child sex abuse cases. In New York, so-called SOLs greatly —…

“People with parasitic interests will see you as their prey.” So says Elijah Wood, who generally commands a bit of attention when he speaks. And the reason for that is obvious, given that Wood, now 35 years old, has already had a decades-long acting career on television and in movies. Most notably, of course, he…

We know that all our readers would fervently welcome the day when acts of child sexual abuse would simply cease to exist in California, nationally and across the rest of the world. The victimization of young people — from toddlers and adolescents to teens and beyond — by adult sexual perpetrators is a stark and…

We have often noted in our Los Angeles personal injury blog devoted to advocacy on behalf of sexual abuse victims (especially children) that no demographic is exempt when it comes to sexual predators. That is, the sexual abuse of children and other people is sadly, a flatly egalitarian practice. Our past posts have spotlighted criminal…

In our last post, we began looking at the California Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act and its requirements. As we noted, there are various forms of abuse and neglect which must be reported under the act by certain categories of individuals identified as legally mandated reporters. Such individuals are required to report when, in their…

For victims of child abuse, seeking compensation from those responsible for or who contributed to the abuse is critical to achieving a just resolution to their case. For the victim, of course, this may entail filing a civil suit and seeking damages to compensate for costs and suffering result from the abuse. It is also…

Technology that is unavailable to the public that can transform blurred images into sharply focused material. Fingerprints that can actually be pulled from a photo and enhanced to the point where positive identification of an individual can be made. So-called “Photo DNA” technology that enables criminal investigators poring over computers to review data 100 times…

A certain aspect of child sexual abuse eradication efforts is progressively emerging into public light in a manner that is most assuredly heartening to all but the most perverted and dangerous people living in the United States and foreign countries. At the same time, though, and even as dramatically exciting announcements are being made that…

Statutes of limitation are so-called “repose” laws, meaning that they impose some cut off point in the future attaching to a criminal investigation for matters of fundamental fairness. Evidence grows old. Memories fade. Witnesses die. Prosecuting a case after, say, 40 years of an alleged crime occurring yields a heightened possibility for error and a…

Readers of our blog focused upon child sexual abuse — its identification and prevention, as well as just outcomes for victims and due punishment for perpetrators — might reasonably believe that there is a strong federal program in place that helps systematically catalog problem teachers across the country and ensure that relevant information is shared…

Whose interests are being served? That is a fundamentally important question to consider in any comparative examination of criminal and civil court cases, respectively. As we implied in our immediately preceding blog post, it is conceivable that the best interests of a child victimized by sexual assault are not advanced at all — in fact,…

The high-profile O.J. Simpson litigation that played out in Southern California courts some years back likely engendered a bit of confusion for many people regarding the mechanics of the judicial system. Some of our readers, for example, might have reasonably posed this question: Why was he tried twice? We bring that up today because the…

“[T]he light bulb is going off that this is the right thing to do.” So says a principal with one victims’ advocacy group in discussing the growing movement in many states across the country that is focused upon the mass testing of rape kits assembled in sex crime cases. In the context of what she…

There is really no reasonable excuse these days for any California parent to be in the dark regarding their children and the potential for sexual abuse. And the reasons for that are obvious. For starters, it is simply a stark and long-noted fact that acts of sexual abuse committed against children do occur and have…

So-called “group homes” that serve to house thousands of neglected and abused California children who cannot be readily situated with relatives or foster families have always been envisioned by state officials as temporary venues. In other words, the goal has been to place children in such places only for very limited periods, and only when…

Where to draw the line? That certainly seems to be the seminal question that courts — and society in general — must address and answer with some clarity regarding what FBI Director James Comey calls “the hardest question I’ve seen in government.” That question concerns privacy expectations on the one hand and the government’s need…

“You know nothing.” So says the mother of a man who died last year after losing a long-term battle with alcoholism to people who pass judgment on matters relating to child sex abuse without having personally dealt with it in their families. “Wait until you’ve walked in our shoes,” she says. The grief that personally…

It is a case, notes one news outlet, that “highlights the struggle of courts to interpret a convoluted web of clergy reporting laws” that exist across the United States. And it underscores this topical concern: the ability of church authorities in some instances to shield sexual abusers of children from liability through invocation of a…

“[T]here are cases you never forget, some that are always in the back of your mind that you hope one day to solve,” says a Louisiana sheriff. That official can now rest a bit easier regarding at least one such case, a harrowing tale of child sexual abuse that recently entered a new phase with…

He wanted to go to Mexico so that he could bargain with parents who would be willing to part with a child. He specifically communicated with a third-party contact that he wanted to “adopt/own” a toddler, adding that, “The cheapest baby girl under 3 would be good.” He commenced his journey from Ohio late last…