Articles Posted in Sex Abuse

With its new statute of limitations, California has become an epicenter for school sexual abuse lawsuits. A large percentage of landmark school sex abuse settlements are coming from California.

If you were sexually abused by a teacher, coach, counselor, administrator, volunteer, contractor, or another student, you may have a civil claim against not only the predator who abused you, but the school and other organizations.

So many victims do not bring claims because they think the bar is higher than it is. The biggest impediment we see is the assumption that you needed to report the crime at the time or even get a criminal conviction. Nothing could be further from the truth. You could still have a case if the sexual abuse was never reported to police, prosecutors declined to file charges, or the school insisted that it could not substantiate your complaint.

Dr. Michael Wilmington sex abuse lawsuits are being filed by former pediatric patients who allege that Wilmington used his position as a trusted doctor to sexually abuse children during medical care. The lawsuits target the now-deceased pediatrician’s estate, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Northwest, Northwest Permanente, and potentially other institutions that employed, supervised, credentialed, or failed to stop him.

These cases are about more than one doctor. A child cannot be expected to understand when a medical exam crosses the line. Parents often trust the doctor, the clinic, the white coat, and the hospital system. That is why these cases focus on what Kaiser, Northwest Permanente, clinic staff, supervisors, chaperones, nurses, administrators, and other institutions knew or should have known.

The public allegations against Wilmington are serious. Vancouver Police reported that their investigation began after a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about child sexual abuse material. Police later reported that Wilmington was associated with Chad Hartley, that Wilmington allegedly hosted naked sleepovers with young children at his La Center residence, that a search warrant was served at Wilmington’s home, that evidence was seized, and that a felony warrant for Child Molestation I was issued before Wilmington was found deceased from apparent suicide. The Vancouver Police release also asked anyone aware of a child who may have had unsupervised contact with Wilmington or Hartley to contact local law enforcement.