Sexual assault or sexual abuse victims can bring a personal injury lawsuit in civil court against the perpetrator. Sexual assault lawsuits can also be brought against third parties such as schools, employers, churches, etc., if their negligence allowed the assault or abuse to occur. Over the last decade there has actually been a wave of new laws passed in many states making it much easier for victims of childhood sexual abuse to file civil lawsuits even years after the abuse occurred.
In this post, we will explain how civil lawsuits for sexual assault work and how they differ from criminal proceedings. We will also look at some of the new laws expanding the rights of victims to bring these cases.
Civil Lawsuits and Damages for Sexual Assault
Sexual assault or abuse is a serious crime and perpetrators can face criminal charges and potentially go to prison or face alternative criminal sanctions. Unfortunately, assault victims do not receive any type of restitution in criminal proceedings against the offender. Sexual assault victims can get financial compensation (damages) for the assault by filing a civil lawsuit against the perpetrator or responsible third parties.
The amount of monetary damages or compensation that a victim can get in a civil lawsuit based on a sexual assault will depend on the specific facts and circumstances of the case. The amount of damages in sexual abuse or sexual assault cases is based on the physical and emotional harm (past and future) that the victim will suffer as a result of the assault.
Damages can be awarded to the victim for the cost of any medical treatment that they received following the assault. This includes the cost of mental health treatment such as counseling. If the victim was unable to work as a result of the sexual assault they can recover damages for lost wages or lost income. Depending on the level of physical injuries involved in the case, these types of “economic damages” can add up to a significant amount.
Although sexual assault victims can get economic damages for the assault, so-called “non-economic” damages are usually more significant in sexual abuse cases. Non-economic damages can be awarded to compensate the assault victim for “pain and suffering.” This includes not just physical pain, but mental anguish and anxiety caused by the sexual assault.
Getting Money Out of a Perpetrator Can Be Difficult
Even if a sexual assault victim wins a civil lawsuit against the perpetrator, that just means that they get an order from the court instructing the abuser to pay a certain amount of money. Just because the defendant in a civil lawsuit is held liable and ordered to pay damages, this does not mean that the plaintiff automatically receives any money. Aside from ordering the defendant to pay, the court itself actually does nothing to enforce that order or ensure that the plaintiff receives payment.
When a plaintiff wins a civil lawsuit and gets a money judgment against the defendant, that plaintiff is own their own when it comes to collecting that money. If the defendant is an insurance company or a big corporation they will just pay the judgment voluntarily. However, when the defendant in an individual person that almost never happens. Most people simply don’t have any money or assets to pay for a big civil judgment.
This reality is something that sexual assault victims need to be aware of when they are considering whether to file a civil lawsuit. Unless the perpetrator is very wealthy, getting a judgment against them individually is probably pointless because you won’t be able to collect it.
This doesn’t mean civil lawsuits for sexual assault are worthless. The key to getting compensation in a sexual assault lawsuit is going after third parties that may have legal liability for the assault and the financial resources to pay any monetary judgment.
Suing Third Parties for Sexual Assault
In many sexual assault or abuse cases, suing the perpetrator of the assault is not the only option. There are many circumstances in which a third party can be named as a defendant and held liable for sexual assault or abuse. If the incident occurred at a school, business, or church then those entities can potentially be liable under various legal theories including:
- Premises liability: common examples include negligent security, failure to provide adequate safety measures such as lighting, cameras, etc.)
- General negligence: schools and churches may have a duty to protect vulnerable students)
- Negligent Supervision: sometimes the perpetrator’s employer can be held liable for failing to properly supervise and/or screen its employees. For example, if a school hired a teacher with a record of prior sex offenses.
There are numerous examples of third party companies or institutions being held liable for sexual assaults committed by their employees. The most notable example are the sexual assault lawsuits involving catholic priests. Over the last decade, the Roman Catholic Dioceses and Archdioceses have paid hundreds of millions in compensation to victims who were sexually abused by priests as children.
More recently, rideshare companies Uber and Lyft have been named as defendants in numerous lawsuits in which drivers were accused of sexually assaulting riders. These lawsuits claimed that Uber and Lyft had liability because they either failed to do adequate background checks on their drivers, or they ignored complaints or warning signs.
Statute of Limitations
If you want to file a sexual assault lawsuit you need to make sure that the statute of limitations has not already expired on your claim. Each state has a statute of limitations which sets a deadline on how long you can wait before filing a lawsuit. If the deadline has expired, you will be legally barred from filing your case.
The statute of limitations deadline varies for each state, but it is usually somewhere between 1 and 5 years from the date of the assault or abuse. In Maryland, sexual abuse or assault cases brought by adult victims (over the age of 18) are subject to the general 3-year statute of limitations that applies to all tort claims. Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-101.
There is a major exception to this rule if the victim is a child at the time of the abuse. In 2023, Maryland passed a new law called the Child Victims Act (“CVA”), which went into effect October 1, 2023. The CVA was a groundbreaking new law that completely removed all statute of limitations periods for civil lawsuits based on sexual abuse of a child. Under the CVA victims of child sexual abuse can file civil lawsuits no matter how long ago the abuse occurred. The CVA not only lifted the SOL for child sex abuse claims, it applied retroactively to all child sex abuse claims that were previously time-barred under the law. Thanks to the CVA, child sexual abuse victims in Maryland can now sue even for abuse that occurred decades in the past.
New Laws Expanding Deadlines for Filing Child Sex Abuse Lawsuits
Every state has its own unique statute of limitations law establishing a deadline for civil sex abuse lawsuits. Until recently, most of these laws gave victims of child sexual abuse a certain fixed amount of time after they reached the age of majority (usually 18) in order to file their claim. This was typically anywhere from 2 to 5 years. That meant that victims of child sexual abuse only had until their 20th or 23rd birthday to file a civil lawsuit.
Over the last decade, however, increased public awareness and sympathy for victims of child sexual abuse has generated intense political pressure. This political pressure and public attention prompted a large number of states to enact new laws or amend their existing laws to make it easier for child sexual abuse victims to file civil lawsuits. Most of these new legal reforms have focused on expanding the statute of limitations deadline for civil claims by child sex abuse victims.
The specifics of each new law have varied significantly from state-to-state. Certain states simply expanded the SOL deadline for future child sex abuse victims (e.g., from age 25 to age 45), but did nothing to revive claims that had already expired under the old law. Other states, such as New York, expanded their SOL for future claims, but also created a limited “lookback window” in which victims who’s claims had expired under the old law could file within a limited time period. Finally, a select few states (e.g., Maryland, Vermont, and Maine) took things a step further and not only eliminated any SOL for child sex abuse claims, but applied that retroactively to revive all claims that were time-barred under the old laws.
Contact Our Sex Abuse Lawyers
If you have been the victim of sexual abuse or assault and are thinking about filing a civil lawsuit, contact our national sex abuse lawyers today. Call us at 800-553-8082 or contact us online.