Legal News

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…

What better way to identify and arrest child pornography enthusiasts using a so-called “Dark Web” site, surmised the FBI, than to pose as the site’s administrator? Some of our readers might not be familiar with the Dark Web, which can be loosely described as a secretive Internet within the Internet availed of by users such…

Who’s the victim here? In raising that question, two guest commentators in a recent media article discussing acts of sexual abuse committed by Catholic clergy members readily answer it at the same time. And, in fact, with another question. “Why must the true victims — the victims of sexual assault — be haunted by their…

“[J]ustice and closure.” We use those words on a page of our website at the Los Angeles personal injury law firm of Taylor & Ring, employing them in the context of what must centrally happen in the aftermath of any sex-based crime. Although closure for any crime victim is obviously of utmost importance, it can…

Violence against children is always a topic that rightly commands front-page news attention in media outlets across California and the rest of the country, given the sheer vulnerability of adolescents and the corresponding need to spotlight the wrongs committed against them. In no realm is that truer than with acts of sexual abuse committed against…

“Kids need a safe place to be and someone who cares about them. Now why should that be so hard?” Thus queries a seasoned Los Angeles Police Department veteran, an officer who heads the LAPD unit that focuses upon identification and eradication of child sexual exploitation. Lt. Andre Dawson’s posed question is eminently straightforward and…

There is a definite focus on vulnerability in several new California laws that were passed last year and took legal effect on January 1. We are confident that our readers across Southern California will routinely applaud that focus and attendant effort of state legislators to protect individuals who are at the greatest risk of being…

Filmmakers in Los Angeles have examined virtually every conceivable subject under the sun over the years, with no topic seemingly being taboo. And now the focus has in a very literal sense turned in on Hollywood and the movie industry itself, and in a manner that is anything but salutary or self-congratulatory. The subject matter…

It’s likely hard — in fact, insuperably difficult — for readers of our blog to contemplate what goes through the mind of a victim of sexual assault, unless, of course, they have been victimized themselves. For purposes of today’s post, we focus on the aftermath of such heinous behavior, specifically, the inability of a victim…

Whither Jessica’s Law? In our earlier post from this week, we noted the evisceration of that California statutory enactment by state corrections officials acting in the wake of a state court decision rendered earlier this year. The result: An estimated 4,200 — if not more — sex offenders convicted of crimes against children previously who…

“Kids in kindergarten living across the street from a sex offender is not what the people voted for in Jessica’s Law.” So says a state legislator who is clearly dismayed by an abrupt turn in established state policy that has removed living restrictions on thousands of paroled sex offenders across California. As noted in a…