When you send your children to school, you expect that they will be safe. You rely on and trust your child’s teachers and school administrators to look out for and protect your kids. But what happens when your child’s teacher violates that trust and abuses your child? You are probably feeling hurt and overwhelmed, and need to understand that you have legal rights and options. A dedicated personal injury attorney might be able to help you pursue teacher sex abuse claims in Sanford.
Unfortunately, teacher sexual abuse can occur in many different places, including public, private, and boarding schools. It can also occur on school grounds, such as in practice fields, dorm rooms, cafeterias, theaters, locker rooms, bathrooms, and art rooms, before, during, or after classes. Abuse and misconduct can also take place on school buses or on school sanctioned field trips. The perpetrators can be classroom teachers, coaches, bus drivers, principals, administrators, and school volunteers. Both girls and boys of any age can experience sexual abuse at the hands of teachers or other school professionals.
Sadly, many instances of abuse have been covered up, as school administrators have tried to quietly hide or even handle these claims themselves. The culture of covering up abuse at schools has allowed the abuse to continue in many instances. Our team has successfully handled lawsuits regarding teacher sexual abuse – as well as clergy abuse. These successful civil suits have addressed a wide variety of sexual misconduct, including the following:
A determined lawyer in Sanford could help you and your family fight back against unlawful sexual abuse from a teacher by filing a civil lawsuit.
When teachers abuse their students, they can face criminal prosecutions. If convicted, they can go to jail, receive probation, and made to pay fines. As a consequence of a criminal investigation or conviction, the accused teacher might also lose their job or the right to be a teacher in the district or state in the future.
While a criminal prosecution might give you a sense of satisfaction that you get to watch the offender be punished with a sentence by the criminal justice system, a criminal conviction does not personally help your child or your family. However, a civil lawsuit could give you a means to obtain compensation for your family’s losses. Although no amount of money can restore your child’s innocence and feeling of safety, the financial compensation you obtain in a successful legal claim could help your child gain access to the counseling and support they need. Your lawsuit could also serve as a deterrent to other would-be offenders, as well as an opportunity to hold the responsible party accountable in a civil lawsuit for their misconduct.
A lawyer in Sanford could help you seek a damages award that could assist with your child’s healing after being sexually abused by a teacher. A successful lawsuit could help you pay for your child’s therapy expenses. You might also choose to apply the proceeds to pay for tuition at a new school or anything else that might help you move on from this terrible situation.
Your child should have the right and expectation to feel secure every day at school. Teachers are people that every child should feel safe with. When teachers exploit that trust by taking advantage of children in a sexual and inappropriate manner, those teachers should be held legally accountable for their wrongful conduct.
Teacher sex abuse claims in Sanford can give your family an opportunity to seek justice and hold the person who wrongfully abused your child’s trust legally accountable. Consult with The Umansky Law Firm team as soon as possible to get started on the healing process.
The Umansky Law Firm Criminal Defense & Injury Attorneys
