On July 1, the Boy Scouts of America agreed to pay $850 million to tens of thousands of men to settle sexual abuse claims going back decades. This amount could be the largest settlement for child sexual abuse claims in United States history, if approved by a judge. Some legal experts are calling this a…
In a sexual assault case filed in Alameda County, a former Berkeley High School student alleges the Berkeley United School District (BUSD) employed a sexual predator for decades. Matthew Bissell, who is no longer employed at the school, is also named as a defendant in the suit. A previous Title IX investigation found a years-long…
Sexual abuse, sexual assault, sexual misconduct, and sexual battery, sexual harassment, and rape all have different meanings. Some of these terms are legal terms. Others are used as catchalls and not correctly. There’s also a difference between how these terms may be used in civil cases and criminal cases. If you are looking to file…
Another elite boarding school is facing allegations of sexual misconduct. The Cate School in Carpinteria, CA is currently being investigated for suspected sexual abuse by a former employee of the school. It is reported that several survivors – both current and former students – have come forward. Per the Los Angeles Times, a mandated reporter…
A former Roman Catholic priest from California was arrested at his home in Rhode Island by the Rhode Island Violent Fugitive Task Force on charges of sexual assault. Christopher Cunningham was arrested on a warrant that accuses of him sexually assaulting children in California. At the time of his arrest, Cunningham was working as a…
A “smuggling vessel” hit a reef off the coast of San Diego on Sunday, May 2, killing three people and injuring two dozen others. The incident occurred in Point Loma, which leads into San Diego Bay. A dive team couldn’t enter the waters because of severe weather. The boat was broken apart into hundreds of…
When you spend close to $65,000 per year to send your child to school, the very least you should expect is that your child is safe. A shocking disclosure by the Thacher School in Ojai admitted that this was not the case at all, and had not been for decades. Per the Los Angeles Times,…
A common form of workplace harassment is inappropriate touching. It is a traumatic experience that often leaves employees not wanting to return to work, not wanting to perform their duties, and causes them to suffer emotional stress. Inappropriate touching at work is unwelcome, nonconsensual physical contact that violates personal boundaries and creates a hostile work…
A new bill introduced in January in the California Legislature would allow sexual assault survivors the ability to track the results of their rape kit. The bill would only apply to rape kits collected after January 1, 2018. The bill, SB-215, was introduced by State Senator Connie Leyva. If the legislation is passed, it would…
A bill introduced in the California Legislature by Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia would classify the nonconsensual removal of a condom as sexual battery if it becomes law. Under the current civil code of California, sexual battery is defined as someone acting intentionally to cause harm or offensive contact with someone else’s intimate body parts and ultimately…