Sexual Abuse

Dave Ring provides legal insight to The Boston Globe An explosive front-page article in the Boston Globe claims that, according to a recently-filed lawsuit, the prestigious Portsmouth Abbey boarding school in Rhode Island failed to protect a young woman from sexual abuse from a teacher. The suit also claims school leaders provided the victim with…

Prior to the pandemic, your kids typically spent 8 hours a day with other children and adults. Even now, whether your kids have landed back in classrooms for face to face learning or they’re getting their education remotely, they’re generally not under your strict supervision while sitting in front of their online classes. Their teachers…

The common perception about sexual crimes and those who commit them are that they are committed by adult men mostly against women and sometimes against children. However, the perpetrators of sexual abuse are sometimes children committing offenses against other children. Almost 1 in 3 perpetrators of child sex abuse are below the age of 18.…

A recently published Vatican manual on how to handle sexual abuse allegations within the Catholic Church instructs bishops to report all of these allegations to law enforcement, even when there is no legal obligation to do so. The manual directs ecclesiastical authorities to produce a report and provide it to relevant civil authorities if it…

On July 27, 2020, former NFL player Dana Stubblefield was convicted of multiple charges, including rape by force, oral copulation by force and false imprisonment. His victim (“Jane Doe”) was 31-year-olds old when Stubblefield raped her in 2015. According to her attorneys, Jane has developmental disabilities. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) estimates…

A recent ruling upholding the constitutionality of New York state’s “look-back law” for sexual abuse lawsuits gives victims of abuse and their attorneys improved ability to bring a lawsuit. Attorneys and plaintiffs across the country praised the decision, saying it sets a precedent for more victims to come forward and prosecute their abusers, even if…

Normandie Burgos, a well-known coach in the Bay Area, was convicted of 60 counts of child molestation in May 2019 and sentenced to 255 years in prison. Despite being arrested for the second time in 2014 for charges of abusing one of his players, Burgos was allowed to continue coaching until 2017. He was arrested…

Millions of Americans have been told to shelter-in-place or stay-at-home since the pandemic reached the United States. Even though many Americans will be safe while staying home, millions are not safe in their own homes due to domestic violence. In fact, more than 10 million Americans experience some form of domestic violence every year. Removing…

A decision in November of last year by the District Court of Massachusetts has helped clear up the issue of employer liability when illegal sex trafficking occurs on an employer’s property. The case – Ricchio v. Bijal – involves Lisa Ricchio, the victim, who was kidnapped by Clark McLean, the defendant. Ricchio was held against…

The University of Southern California (USC) has agreed to make significant changes to the process it follows for reporting sexual misconduct allegations in light of the findings of a federal investigation. The school has agreed to these procedural changes after systematic failures were discovered in the school’s handling of abuse allegations against George Tyndall, former…