Child Sexual Assault & Abuse
Legal Support & Advocacy
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At Donlon Brand, we are committed to helping survivors of childhood sexual abuse find justice and healing through the legal system. Our experienced attorneys understand the unique challenges these cases present and the tremendous courage it takes to come forward. We provide trauma-informed representation that empowers survivors to hold both individual perpetrators and negligent institutions accountable while supporting their path to recovery.
What's Legally Considered Child Sexual Assault & Abuse?
Child sexual assault and abuse cases involve civil legal actions seeking justice and compensation for individuals who experienced sexual victimization during childhood. These cases address the profound and often lifelong impact of childhood trauma, providing survivors with resources for healing and holding responsible parties accountable.
Civil litigation in these cases extends beyond pursuing individual perpetrators to include institutions that enabled or concealed abuse—such as schools, religious organizations, youth sports programs, childcare centers, and foster care agencies. When these entities fail to implement proper safeguards, ignore warning signs, or actively cover up reports of misconduct, they share responsibility for the resulting harm.
The prevalence of childhood sexual abuse is alarming. According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 20 boys experience sexual abuse before age 18. Research consistently shows that childhood sexual trauma can have profound long-term effects on mental health, relationships, education, and economic stability throughout adulthood.
Many states have enacted legislation specifically addressing childhood sexual abuse cases, including extended statutes of limitations and “lookback windows” that allow survivors to pursue justice even decades after the abuse occurred. These legal pathways recognize that survivors often require years or decades to process their experiences and connect past abuse to present difficulties.
Common Examples of Child Sexual Assault & Abuse
Our firm regularly represents survivors in cases involving:
School-Based Abuse
Students sexually abused by teachers, coaches, or other school staff who used their positions of authority to groom and exploit children.
Religious Institution Abuse
Survivors harmed by clergy members or religious leaders whose organizations concealed reports and transferred known abusers to new locations.
Youth Organization Violations
Children abused in scouting programs, sports teams, or extracurricular activities where safety protocols were inadequate or ignored.
Foster Care System Failures
Vulnerable children subjected to abuse in foster homes or group residences due to inadequate screening, supervision, or response to warning signs.
Family & Household Abuse
Survivors seeking accountability when other adults in the household knew or should have known about abuse but failed to intervene.
Online Exploitation
Children targeted through internet platforms, gaming environments, or social media by predators who were inadequately monitored by technology companies.
These cases require attorneys with specialized knowledge of trauma impacts, institutional failures, and the unique legal frameworks that apply to childhood sexual abuse litigation.
Child Sexual Assault & Abuse Focus Areas
We provide specialized legal representation across all contexts of childhood sexual victimization:
Sexual Abuse by Family Members & Guardians
Our attorneys represent survivors abused by parents, step-parents, siblings, or other relatives. We address the complex family dynamics that often enable abuse and pursue accountability against non-perpetrating adults who failed to protect children in their care. Our firm handles cases involving intergenerational abuse patterns, abuse in blended families, and situations where children were harmed by relatives with known histories of misconduct.
Abuse in Schools & Daycare Centers
We advocate for survivors victimized by educators, staff members, or other students in educational settings. Our team handles cases against public and private schools that ignored warning signs, failed to conduct proper background checks, or responded inadequately to reports of misconduct. We understand the unique legal considerations for public school liability and the standards of care expected in educational environments.
Clergy & Religious Institution Abuse
Our firm specializes in holding religious organizations accountable for systemic patterns of abuse and institutional cover-ups. We represent survivors harmed by priests, pastors, youth leaders, and other religious authority figures whose organizations prioritized reputation over child safety. Our attorneys have experience navigating the complex legal challenges of religious organization liability and exposing coordinated concealment efforts.
Sexual Abuse in Sports & Extracurricular Activities
We pursue justice for survivors abused by coaches, instructors, and program leaders in youth sports, arts programs, and other activities. Our team addresses cases involving private coaching situations, team travel scenarios, and organizational failures to implement basic safeguards like background checks, proper supervision, and transparent reporting systems for misconduct.
Child Abuse in Group Homes & Foster Care
Our attorneys represent vulnerable children harmed in state care systems due to negligent placement, inadequate supervision, or failure to respond to abuse reports. We hold government agencies, private contractors, and individual caretakers accountable when they breach their duty to protect children already traumatized by family separation. Our firm addresses both adult perpetration and situations where agencies failed to prevent peer-to-peer abuse.
Online Child Exploitation & Predators
We take on cases involving online grooming, exploitation, and abuse facilitated through internet platforms, social media, and gaming environments. Our team pursues accountability against technology companies that fail to implement adequate safeguards, individuals who create and distribute exploitative images, and organizations that don’t properly monitor adult-child interactions in digital spaces.
Assaults by Trusted Professionals
Our firm represents survivors abused by doctors, therapists, tutors, and other professionals with privileged access to children. We understand the unique dynamics of professional exploitation, including the misuse of medical procedures, therapeutic relationships, or educational contexts to facilitate abuse while evading detection.
Institutional Cover-Ups & Failure to Report
We specialize in exposing organizations that systematically concealed abuse reports, transferred known abusers to new locations, or intimidated victims into silence. Our attorneys are skilled at uncovering documentation of institutional knowledge and using discovery processes to reveal patterns of negligent response to misconduct reports. We hold mandatory reporters accountable when they fail their legal duty to protect children.
Civil Lawsuits for Child Sexual Abuse Survivors
Our team guides adult survivors through the civil justice process, helping them understand how “lookback windows” and extended statutes of limitations provide pathways to justice even decades after abuse. We explain the advantages of civil proceedings compared to criminal cases and work to secure compensation that supports healing while creating accountability and preventing future harm.
Need Help?
Your experience matters. Your voice deserves to be heard. Your healing journey is important.
Contact us today for a completely confidential consultation. Our trauma-informed attorneys will listen with compassion, explain your options, and help you decide on the best path forward—with no obligation or pressure.
Why Donlon Brand?
Specialized
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- Specialized Expertise
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Nick Brand
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Melissa Donlon
Partner
