How Common is Sexual Abuse in Elementary Schools?

Putting your child under the supervision of an adult you barely know can be scary, especially given the influx of news stories about sexual abuse in schools and other institutions.  The way that the news reports these tragedies and the way that legislatures across the country have made important strides in revising the laws surrounding sexual abuse all make it seem like sexual abuse is rampant, but reality is a much less scary picture.

While sexual abuse statistics for minors are worryingly high, abuse in elementary schools makes up only a part of this.  Generally, minors are more likely to know the person who abused them, but this includes more than just elementary school staff and teachers.  However, statistics are quite thin on the matter when it comes to sexual abuse in schools, and in elementary schools specifically.  This is in part because of the privacy of the child victims.

For a free review of your potential sexual abuse case, call (814) 826-3586 to speak with the lawyers for victims of sexual abuse at The Law Office of Andrew Shubin.

Statistics on Childhood Sexual Abuse for Elementary-Aged Children

As mentioned, statistics on childhood sexual abuse are often difficult to obtain.  There are a few reasons for this, which we will discuss below, but first allow us to analyze the data available and discuss some of the overall rates of abuse.  In general, these rates are somewhat high, but they are not necessarily as high as news reports and legislative movements might make them out to be

RAINN – the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network – provides statistics on sexual abuse for children and teens.  In general, these stats show that for children under 18, 1 in 9 girls and 1 in 20 boys face sexual abuse/assault.  However, when it comes to elementary-aged children, the statistics are lower, with 34% of sexual abuse cases involving children under 12 and 66% involving children 12-17.

As mentioned above, most minors are sexually abused by someone they know, with 34% of cases being perpetrated by a family member and 7% by strangers.  The other 59% are perpetrated by “acquaintances,” which can include anything from priests to scout leaders to teachers to friends’ parents.  This means that abuse in schools makes up only part of the 59% of cases, but it is unclear from this data how much of the abuse occurs in schools.

Reviews of statistics from the Bureau of Justice Statistics and a journal called Child Abuse & Neglect were all unable to turn up additional information about statistics for childhood sexual abuse in elementary schools, as most of the data in these studies and collections focused instead on other violent crimes and child abuse generally, without a specific focus on elementary aged kids or elementary school settings.

Why is Data Hard to Find on Sexual Abuse of Elementary School Students?

In general, it is hard to find evidence and data about the sexual abuse of minors for a few important reasons.

First, cases involving minors are incredibly sensitive and are not discussed publicly in order to protect the child victims.  When cases of sexual abuse of a minor are discovered and prosecuted or are the subject of a civil lawsuit, the proceedings are often kept confidential, and the minors are often named with their initials or placeholder names to protect their privacy.  This makes reporting on or collecting data on these cases challenging.

Additionally, we can only gather statistics on childhood sexual abuse that we know about.  Not every case is ultimately reported to anyone, let alone to the police.  This leaves us with criminal data on only a fraction of the sexual abuse that occurs – only a fraction of which involves elementary school children in the first place.

Other cases might eventually form the basis of a sexual abuse lawsuit that our attorneys for victims of sexual abuse can help with, but that does not mean it will be included in statistics.  Many of these cases are handled privately or with confidential settlements and no criminal referrals, preventing them from becoming part of any official statistics in the first place.

In addition, many people do not report sexual abuse that happened to them as a child until they are in their 50s, statistically speaking.  Only in the past 5-10 years have governments and law enforcement started studying the trends because only in the past 5-10 years have older adults started coming out about sexual abuse that happened to them decades ago.  As such, there is a big delay in statistics, given that elementary-aged students who were sexually abused recently might not report the abuse or understand what happened to them until decades from now, even with our improved screening of teachers, mandated reporter laws, and other protections.

Lawsuits for Victims of Sexual Abuse in Elementary School

Our lawyers can help you file a lawsuit if you were sexually abused when you were in elementary school or if your child was recently sexually abused in elementary school.  Often, these cases have long statutes of limitations, allowing minors to come forward when they are ready to discuss what happened to them or when they have grown into adults who can stand up and seek justice on their own behalf.

Our lawyers can help you in this fight, collecting evidence and records that might help prove your case or at least show the institution’s fault in allowing the abuse to happen.  Often, internal records will show that there was no investigation into sexual abuse claims or that reports of what happened to you went unaddressed and unpunished.  In many cases, there may be records that previous allegations about the same teacher or staff member went unaddressed, in which case the institution might be responsible for the abuse you later faced.

These claims can often result in substantial compensation for the survivors.

Call Our Sexual Abuse Victim Attorneys for Help Today

If you or a loved one was sexually abused, call (814) 826-3586 for a free case assessment with the sexual abuse victim lawyers at The Law Office of Andrew Shubin.