Priest and Clergy Sexual Abuse encompasses a range of illegal and improper acts often perpetrated against children and adolescents by pedophilic priests or other clergy members involving sexual assault of varying degrees. The assault can be a one-time, non-consensual encounter or it can involve several assaults within an ongoing interaction. For example, an ongoing “trusting” relationship with a child spawned by the predatory behavior of a clergy member, cloaked with the trust and reverence imputed to a member of the clergy, leading to non-consensual sexual assaults acts of molestation. Read more about recent publicized abuse reports here.
Several states have either passed or are in the process of passing legislation and several dioceses have established reparation programs to protect and compensate victims of abuse. In an ongoing effort to increase transparency, various dioceses have also compiled lists of priests and clergy who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse and have released those lists to the public. This page contains state-by-state information including legislation, reparation programs and accused priests and clergy that is updated frequently.
Because a Priest and Clergy Sexual Abuse case can involve both a criminal complaint and a civil claim, more than one statute of limitations (SOL) is likely to apply. In all situations, an analysis of these time limits can only be made after the relevant facts and circumstances are known.
Legally, a survivor of Priest or Clergy Sexual Abuse may recover financial compensation from the abuser and, more commonly, from the religious organization for its failure to protect the child from the abuse, as well as failures or deficiencies in its process of reviewing and responding to reports of abuse. If you are a survivor of Sexual Abuse from a Priest or other Clergy member and would like to confidentially discuss your situation and your legal options, we are prepared to talk with you.
Resolution of childhood sexual abuse cases takes places in two very distinct contexts: in the courtroom or outside of it. Whether or not to pursue litigation against the abuser and/or a responsible institution is a very personal decision. Many childhood sexual abuse survivors who pursue claims against the abuser and/or a responsible institution do not want to publicly disclose their identity nor do they want to endure the so-called “hazards of litigation.” Read more about sexual abuse litigation results here.
If you prefer to speak with us directly regarding your incident, please call The Meneo Law Group at 1-866-371-8506 1-866-371-8506 or send us a confidential email.