Teachers, coaches, and other adults in the Brevard County school system are expected to protect your children from harm when they oversee students. It is a sacred pact between parents and the school system. Most teachers are exemplary surrogates who nurture and guide children, but unfortunately, some are dangerous and cause irreparable harm to impressionable youngsters because of their misguided sexual proclivities.
Although Cocoa is a generally safe community, a predatory teacher can shatter that safety. If your child has been victimized by a trusted adult at school, the law could swiftly proceed by filing criminal charges. However, you also have recourse in civil court. Do not think it does not happen here. In a recent 7-year period, Stop Educator Sexual Abuse Misconduct & Exploitation, (SESAME) reported 279 cases in Florida. If your child alleges teacher sex abuse claims in Cocoa, call our injury lawyers now.
Teacher sex abuse encompasses a broader range of perpetrators to include educators in administrative authority, such as principals, coaches, substitute teachers, volunteers, or any adult with a duty to protect children. Sex abuse occurs when an adult violates that duty and engages in inappropriate touching, sexual relationships, or sexually charged conduct, such as sharing child pornography with an underage person.
Often, the predator will resort to social media sites to interact with and gain the trust of targeted students. About 35 percent of adults in the education system who were arrested for improper sexual contact with students used social media sites to befriend their victims. In some cases, such as the Cocoa teacher who maintained a two-year relationship with an underage high school student, consent is not a valid defense because the student was younger than 18, Florida’s age of consent.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a federal law that gives guidance about how public schools should handle sex discrimination, abuse, harassment, and assaults. When schools do not follow prescribed protocols and a student is victimized, the school district also becomes a potential defendant in any personal injury action parents might initiate. We can help you file a teacher sex abuse claim against a Cocoa school or Brevard County district that failed to protect your child from harassment or assault.
Children who have been sexually abused often experience mood changes that parents should look for, and changes in social media activity. If your child confides inappropriate actions by a teacher or adult in charge, there are some actions you can take according to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), the country’s largest organization working to stop sexual violence and the creator of the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800-656-HOPE).
Even if your 18-year-old high school senior admits to an affair with a teacher, Florida teachers are violating ethical standards and can lose their teaching license if complaints are filed. If you suspect or know of improper behavior by a teacher toward your child, you should:
A civil action is based on the reckless behavior of the teacher or other adult and the negligent behavior of the school authorities for not catching and stopping the egregious acts. We can file a lawsuit on your child’s behalf and ask for compensation that will pay for any medical treatment necessary, including counseling. Your child is also entitled to compensation for the emotional and psychological trauma they endure before and after our Cocoa lawyers make the case for teacher sex abuse claims.
As outraged as parents and society are that an adult would sexually abuse, harass, touch, photograph, or rape a child, it occurs in Florida and across the U.S. These acts are especially heinous when a person of trust is the perpetrator, including teachers, coaches, and other school personnel.
While criminal charges are always appropriate in these cases, civil complaints are, too. The injury complaints are meant to restore as much as possible the innocence and trust in adults your child has lost. Our attorneys work tirelessly when children are harmed. You can count on aggressive representation to get your family compensated after teacher sex abuse claims in Cocoa.
The Umansky Law Firm Criminal Defense & Injury Attorneys
