California Injury Lawyers Blog

Police have arrested Martin Weiss, a Hollywood talent manager, for allegedly sexually abusing one of his clients. Weiss represents young actors. His apprehension was on suspicion of committing lewd acts upon a child under age 14.

The alleged victim, who is now 18 and an aspiring musician and singer, says that Weiss sexually assaulted him 30-40 times over a 3-year period until he turned 15. He claims that Weiss said that this type of relationship was common in the entertainment industry.

Per an affidavit about the Los Angeles sex abuse allegations, Weiss admits to having had sexual contact with the alleged victim, but he claims that the boy was not a reluctant participant.

Weiss' talent firm is called Martin Weiss Management. It is not known at this time whether there are other alleged victims.

Sex Abuse
The issue of child sex abuse has been in the headlines a lot lately. Jerry Sandusky, a former Penn State University Assistant Coach, is charged with 40 criminal counts related to the sex abuse of a number of boys. He maintains that he is innocent.

One alleged victim has already filed a civil lawsuit seeking damages from Sandusky. Also named as a defendant is Penn State. The plaintiff, now 29, is alleging "institutional" concealment and failure. He says that Sandusky sexually abused him over a 100 times during the 1990's. Meantime, legendary Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno has been fired over the sex abuse scandal.

Also making national headlines is Bernie Fine, the associate head coach of Syracuse University's basketball team. At least three males have come forward claiming he molested them when they were younger. Fine has since been fired from Syracuse.

Sex Abuse
Sexual abuse causes serious and likely lifelong emotional injuries. Physical injuries may also result--especially if sexual assault or rape occurred. In many instances, sex abuse is committed by perpetrators that know the victims.

Victims may too be scared to report what happened right away or they may not understand what is happening. Some may even repress the memories, which can take years to resurface.

As the victim of child sex abuse, you (or your child) may be entitled to Los Angeles personal injury damages from the abuser and anyone that allowed the abuse to occur despite having a duty to protect. For instance, the sex abuse lawsuit against Sandusky is also seeking damages against Penn State University because the school didn't act to prevent/stop the alleged abuse from happening.

Manager of young actors arrested in molestation case, Los Angeles Times, December 1, 2011

First lawsuit filed against Sandusky in Penn State child sex scandal, CNN, November 30, 2011

Police to share Bernie Fine info with DA, ESPN, November 29, 2011

More Blog Posts:
Orange County, California Sex Abuse: Another Patient Accuses Anesthesiologist at Placentia-Linda Hospital, California Injury Lawyers Blog, October 26, 2011

Costa Mesa Priest Sued for Orange County, California Child Sex Abuse on Trial, California Injury Lawyers Blog, June 16, 2011

Santa Ana School District Seeks to Dismiss Orange County, California Personal Injury Lawsuit Alleging Special-Ed Student Was Molested by Teacher's Aide, California Injury Lawyers Blog, July 6, 2010

A third female has come forward claiming that anesthesiologist Yashwant B. Giri sexually assaulted her. All three patients underwent surgery at Placentia-Linda Hospital.

Girl, is now accused of molesting a 16-year-old girl in 2009, a 28-year-old woman in 2010. and a 36-year-old female earlier this year. He has been charged with sexual abuse. Hospital employees have also said that they saw Girl sexually abuse two of the victims.

The latest woman to come forward says that Girl assaulted her in a private room before she was put under for surgery. The Orange County-Register reports that she finally decided to come forward after her therapist and loved one's encouraged her to speak out.

Sexual Abuse by Doctors
Sexual abuse inflicted by anyone can be a very traumatic experience. When a medical professional is the offender, it is a huge breach of his/her obligation to provide a patient with a certain level of care. Doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, and surgeons have access to patients' bodies because they are tasked with providing the proper treatment. When that privilege is abused it can result in devastating emotional and psychological injuries, as well as physical injuries.

In California, victims can sue a medical professional, including psychotherapists, for Orange County, California sex abuse damages. It can also be grounds for Placentia medical malpractice against the health care provider or professional.

Possible defendants may include the abuser and the health care facility where the sexual abuse happened. Did administrators know that the medical professional may have molested people in the past? Where appropriate steps were taken to prevent sexual assault and abuse from happening at the hospital/medical facility? Were previous complaints of sexual assault against the doctor/nurse/surgeon/anesthesiologist investigated? Was someone with a criminal background or past history of abuse allowed to work at the hospital?

If the victim of sexual abuse is a child, special circumstances may allow for a later claim. A few months ago, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued its first policy to protect kids from sex abuse by doctors. Parents and their children should be notified that they are entitled to having a chaperone with kids at exams. Health care institutions should notify authorities about suspected sex abuse.

The policy called any type of child sex abuse by medical providers a "profound betrayal" of the patient and medical ethics. That said, adult patients should also be protected from sexual assault by a medical professional or anyone else while receiving treatment at a facility.

Our Anaheim personal injury law firm is familiar with the devastation sex abuse can cause on a victim's life. Many of the injuries are not visible to the naked eye, but the damage that sexual assault can wreak on a person's personal life, professional life, emotional health, and mental well-being can cause ramifications that cannot be denied.

Doctors' group issues policy on sex abuse of children, Los Angeles Times/AP, July 19, 2011

Third victim alleges abused by doctor, OC Register, October 25, 2011

More Blog Posts:
Hundreds of Doctors Accused of California Medical Malpractice Were Not Disciplined by the State, Says Public Citizen, California Injury Lawyers Blog, August 11, 2011

Costa Mesa Priest Sued for Orange County, California Child Sex Abuse on Trial, California Injury Lawyers Blog, June 16, 2011

Brother of Alleged Clergy Sex Abuse Victim Says He Too Was Molested by Priests at Huntington Beach Parish, California Injury Lawyers Blog, January 20, 2011

In 2009, our Anaheim personal injury lawyers reported on our blog site about a California sex abuse settlement reached between the Roman Catholic Diocese of California and a Fountain Valley man who says that a reverend named Denis Lyons sexually abused him. The diocese has shelled out over $4 million dollars to settle Orange County, California clergy sex abuse claims over Lyons. Earlier this week, Los Angeles Times reported that Lyons was about to stand trial over criminal charges alleging lewd acts on a child under 14.

The 77-year-old is accused of sexually abusing a 7-year-old parishioner in the church rectory and sacristy at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in 1992. He allegedly sexually abused the boy four times while the child was attending the Costa Mesa parish school.

Lyons, who was arrested in July 20, 2009, has pleaded not guilty to the four felony counts. Criminal charges were also brought against him in 2003 for the alleged molestation of a child under 14. The incidents are said to have occurred between 1978 and 1981 but that lawsuit was dropped after the US Supreme Court decided that a California law getting rid of the statute of limitations in sex abuse cases is not retroactive.

Under state law, the statute of limitations for a sex abuse victim to file a California sex abuse lawsuit is his/her 26th birthday or until within three years following discovery or when the victim should have reasonably discovered that psychological injury or illness occurred from the abuse. In addition to the perpetrator, entities or individuals that owed a child a duty of care but were negligent, which resulted in the sex abuse being able to happen, can also be held liable.

Diocese settles with man who claimed sexual abuse, OC Register, February 27, 2011

Costa Mesa priest to be tried in molestation case, Los Angeles Times, June 13, 2011

More Blog Posts:
Plaintiff Files Orange County, California Child Sex Abuse Lawsuit Accusing Two Priests at a Huntington Beach Parish, California Injury Lawyers Blog, June 11, 2009

Sexual Abuse Took Place at Hawthorne, California Nursing Home, Says Ex-Employee, California Injury Lawyers Blog, June 7, 2011

Brother of Alleged Clergy Sex Abuse Victim Says He Too Was Molested by Priests at Huntington Beach Parish, California Injury Lawyers Blog, January 20, 2011

Continue reading "Costa Mesa Priest Sued for Orange County, California Child Sex Abuse on Trial" »

The older brother of a man who is suing Rev. Alexander Manville and former Franciscan friar and priest Gus Krumm of sex abuse is now also a plaintiff in the same Orange County, California personal injury case, which is scheduled to go to trial in July. The men are seeking damages for negligence, sexual battery, and other causes of action.

The younger brother, who is known as John Doe in court documents, sued the two men in June 2009. He claimed that they sexually abused him at the Huntington Beach parish between 1992 and 1994. plaintiffs were students at a local Catholic school when the alleged abuse happened. The plaintiffs' Newport Beach personal injury lawyer says that Manville at first subjected the victims to "bogus medical exams" and that the interactions eventually turned into rape. Although Krumm has never been prosecuted for sex abuse in criminal court, he has admitted to instances of abuse in the 1970's and 1980's.

Superior Court Judge Nancy Wieben Stock will decide next month whether the brothers can also seek punitive damages from Manville, Krumm, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, and the Franciscan Friars. The brothers claim that the Franciscan Friars and the diocese exhibited a "callous disregard" for kids' safety when Krumm was transferred to Sts. Simon and Jude and gave him full access to the grammar school even though there had been allegations that he had sexually abused miniors. Krumm was allowed to work around children at the Huntington Beach parish for seven years.

Clergy Sex Abuse
Sexual abuse of any kind can be damaging from the victim, who may never fully recover emotionally. Unfortunately, for years there were many priests who went unpunished as they continued to molest members of their community, churches, and schools. Children and adults, who were sexually abused as kids, may be able to recover Huntington Beach, California personal injury damages from their abuser and other responsible parties.

Brother joins priest-abuse lawsuit, The Orange County Register, January 20, 2011

Plaintiff Files Orange County, California Child Sex Abuse Lawsuit Accusing Two Priests at a Huntington Beach Parish, California Injury Lawyers Blog, June 11, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange

Abuse in the Catholic Church, The Boston Globe

The Santa Ana Unified School District is seeking to dismiss the Orange County, California injuries to a minor lawsuit filed by the parents of a special-ed student who was molested by a teacher's aide in 2008. The former special-ed aide, Alonso Manuel Gonzalez, pleaded guilty last year to the misdemeanor charge of child abuse and endangerment. The original charge against him prior to the plea agreement was a felony for a lewd act with a dependent adult. He was sentenced to four years of probation, 240 hours of community service, one day in jail, and restitution. The teenager's family is also suing him for her Santa Ana, California personal injury.

In their Orange County, California injury lawsuit, the girl's family is seeking damages for the physical and mental trauma that she suffered from the molestation. They are also accusing the school district of negligence because they kept Gonzales on as an employee even though parents had complained about him for years. Among the complaints was that he behaved inappropriately with female students.

Now, however, some media are reporting that not only is the school district using 40 separate affirmative defenses in an attempt to dismiss the complaint, but it is also contending that the victim's negligence caused her trauma and injuries because she did not exercise enough care to protect herself from Gonzales. The victim, who was 17 at the time, has the mental capacity of a 7-year-old, is wheelchair bound, and cannot communicate verbally. Yet, according to the school district's attorneys, she consented to the molestation. They are also accusing the girl's parents of reckless, negligent, and careless supervision of the girl, which caused and contributed to her damages and injuries from the sex abuse.

The Santa Ana Unified School District is asking that all charges be dismissed. The defendant also want the victim's family to compensate it for legal feels.

Orange County, California Child Sexual Abuse
Child sexual abuse, molestation, and rape are crimes. The trauma caused by any type of sexual assault, especially by trusted adults on minors, cannot be quantified. A sex abuse victim may suffer from nightmares, relationship issues, eating disorders, depression, suicidal tendencies, mood swings, and other injuries. Children that are placed under the authority of abusive adults are especially vulnerable. Tens of thousands of children in the US are the victims of sexual abuse every year. Parents may be entitled to seek Santa Ana, California sex abuse damages on their child's behalf.

Santa Ana Unified School District Blames Disabled Student for Her Molestation by School Worker, Demands She Pay Their Legal Bills!, OC Weekly, June 24, 2010

School district blames disabled student for own molestation, The Raw Story, June 25, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Santa Ana Unified School District

Child Sex Abuse, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Child Sexual Abuse Fact Sheet for Parents, Teachers and Other Caregivers, American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress

The parents of a 13-year-old girl are suing the San Bernardino Unified School District for her California sex abuse injuries inflicted by a convicted sex offender who seduced and raped her in 2006. They are seeking over $5 million for their daughter's personal injuries.

According to the San Bernardino sexual abuse complaint, Darold Hecht started talking to the girl while working for his father-in-law's construction company. Ledesma & Meyer Construction Co., which is also a defendant in the family's lawsuit, was making the new facilities at Cesar E. Chavez Middle School at the time.

Hecht would go on to repeatedly battered, raped, and sexually abused the girl. Last year, he was convicted of sexually abusing the girl and was sentenced to 24 years in state prison.

Her family's San Bernardino injuries to a child lawsuit blames school officials for allowing the convicted sex offender on school grounds and then failing to properly investigate once they found out about the sexual abuse. The complaint accuses the Rancho Cucamonga construction company of allowing Hecht to work on school property despite knowing about his criminal past.

Child Sex Abuse
If your child was sexually abused while under the supervision of another party, you may have grounds for pursing a San Bernardino County child sexual abuse claim against the assailant, as well as any other persons that allowed the sexual abuse to occur. Your civil case would be separate from any criminal charges filed by prosecutors against the abuser.

Unlike physical injuries, the emotional and mental injuries that are caused by molestation, sexual assault, inappropriate fondling, and rape can be hard to identify. However, the damages that they inflict are very real and can last a lifetime. A sex abuse victim may have a hard time trusting others and maintaining healthy relationships. He or she may be more prone to depression, eating disorders, acting out sexually, drug addiction, sleep problems, academic difficulties, unusual aggressiveness, and suicidal tendencies. Not only can this wreak havoc on the victim's life but also he/she may have to undergo years of counseling, which can be very costly.

Lawsuit filed in 2006 sexual abuse case involving 13-year-old girl at San Bernardino middle school, Los Angeles Times, May 20, 2010

Parents sue construction firm in rape, San Bernardino County Sun, May 24, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Child Sexual Abuse, American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Jaycee Dugard, the woman who was kidnapped and held hostage for 18 years, has filed a claim notifying California's Department of Correction that she is intending to file a personal injury lawsuit. Her two daughters, who are minors, and her mother, Terry Probin, have also filed their injury claim forms.

Dugard was 11 when Nancy and Phillip Garrido kidnapped her outside her South Lake Tahoe residence in 1991. They held her hostage in a backyard compound and she eventually gave birth to two children by Phillip, who is accused of raping her. The girls are now 12 and 15.

Dugard and her daughters were discovered last August after campus security at UC-Berkeley saw Phillip and thought he was acting strangely. His parole officer brought him in for questioning and he admitted to kidnapping Jaycee.

In California, plaintiffs have six months from the date that an incident occurred to file a personal injury lawsuit. Dugard's California injury claim forms note that she is seeking over $25,000.

The California Corrections Department was supposed to closely monitor Phillip, who became a registered sex offender after he was convicted of raping a 25-year-old woman. He was under parole supervision from 1988 to 1999.

The Office of th Inspector General has determined that the state of California immediately erred in the way they handled Phillip's parole. They mistakenly classified him as a low-risk offender, and an agent who visited Phillip's residence took at face value the parolee's account that the girl who was there was a niece.

The Garridos are charged with kidnapping and raping Jaycee.

In certain California personal injury cases, there may be parties that can be held liable even if their actions or inaction only indirectly contributed to causing the injuries.

Dugard, Family File Claims Against Calif Officials, NY Times, February 26, 2010

Jaycee Dugard Found After 18 Years, Kidnap Suspect Allegedly Fathered Her Kids, ABCNews, August 27, 2009

Jaycee Dugard, Family File Claims Against California, Fox News, February 26, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Jaycee Dugard Abduction Timeline

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Continue reading "Jaycee Dugard, Her Two Daughters, and Mother File California Injury Claim Against the State's Department of Corrections" »

In the latest Orange County, California clergy sex abuse case against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, a 29-year-old man claims that a priest molested him while he served as a St. Norbert Church altar boy in the 90's.

The name of the plaintiff has not been revealed--he is called John DC Doe in his Orange County, California civil complaint--but his personal injury attorney says that his client's alleged abuser is Monsignor Sinon Falvey.

Falvey was at St. Norbert's from 1976 to 1989. The plaintiff's California clergy abuse lawyer says that the priest was retired, but living at the parish, when the alleged molestation incidents occurred. Falvey died in 2005.

The plaintiff's Santa Ana personal injury lawsuit accuses Falvey of making friends with the victim and gaining his trust so that he could molest the boy. Joelle Casteix, of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, alleges that it now appears that Falvey not only covered up sex abuse incidents involving other priests, but he also abused his own victims. Casteix says other people have come forward claiming that Falvey molested them.

Already, this is the fourth clergy sex abuse lawsuit filed against the Orange County, California diocese in 2009. A former student sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange in June. He claims that two Huntington Beach priests molested him in the 1990's. In April, a former priest says that a La Habra priest drugged and molested him when he was a teenager.

Last February, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange settled the Orange County, California sex abuse lawsuit filed by a man who claims that he was molested by a priest in Costa Mesa. Also, the diocese has shelled out $1.5 million over multiple personal injury claims accusing Father John Lenihan of clergy sex abuse.

Clergy Sex Abuse
According to the National Catholic Reporter, US religious orders and dioceses spent over $436 million last year to settle and pay other costs related to clergy sex abuse allegations. This figure is 29% lower than the more than $615 million that was paid out in 2007.

The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University says that last year, US eparchies and dioceses were hit with 625 clergy child sex abuse claims. Most of the complaints referred to alleged molestation incidents that occurred in the 1960's and 1970's.

Lawsuit claims priest molested altar boy in 1990s, OC Register, June 30, 2009

Costs for clergy sex abuse at $2.6 billion, NCROnline.org, March 14, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange

In Orange County Superior Court, a 25-year-old man identifying himself as "John Doe" has filed a California child sex abuse lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, the Franciscan Friars of California, and two priests. The plaintiff used to be a Catholic school student at a Huntington Beach parish. He claims that Reverend Gus Krumm and Reverend Alexander Manville, who is now retired, molested him during the 90's. He is accusing the diocese of failing to prevent the abuse from happening.

The plaintiff says he was 8 when both priests began molesting him. He claims that during one incident, both men abused him at the same time. He didn't tell his parents or the school about the incidents. His Orange County, California sex abuse lawsuit, however, contends that the diocese could have removed one of the priests from the school--after a sex abuse settlement was paid to another accuser--but failed to do so. Krumm, who later would admit to sexual misconduct with children, now has been removed from the ministry.

This is not the first sex abuse lawsuit that has been brought against the diocese. In 2005, the diocese paid $100 million in settlements to 90 people complaining that they had been sexually abused. Other lawsuits have been filed since then.

In February, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange settled the sex abuse lawsuit filed by a plaintiff claiming that a priest molested him during the 1990's. Fountain Valley resident Jonathan Kirrer, now 24, says that Reverend Denis Lyons abused him when he was studying at a Costa Mesa catholic school. The diocese has paid over $4 million to settle sex abuse claims against Lyons. He has finally been removed from the ministry.

Child Sex Abuse
The effects of sex abuse on a child can last into adulthood. Molestation can lead to depression, sleep disorders, behavioral problems, sexual issues, eating disorders, alcoholism, drug addiction, relationship problems, or suicidal tendencies. Molesting or abusing a child or an adult leads to serious emotional injuries and psychological damage for the victim. There may be a way to hold the abuser liable for California personal injury in civil court, even if the abuse happened a long time ago.

Ex-student sues, says he was molested by 2 priests at same time, OC Register, June 11, 2009

Diocese settles with man who claimed sexual abuse, OC Register, February 27, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Child Sexual Abuse, American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Abuse in the Catholic Church, The Boston Globe

Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange