Attorney for Sexual Abuse Victims in Texas

Victims of sexual abuse and sexual assault often have difficulty coming forward about their abuse and seeking justice for what they have been put through.  Our attorneys work with our clients to present their claims in court and to file civil lawsuits seeking damages for the abuse you faced.

Whether your abuse happened recently or years ago, our lawyers can look into the legal options to bring your case, including potentially suing institutions like schools and churches that might have turned a blind eye to the abuse and increased the danger.  We can fight these parties as well as individual abusers so long as there is still a legal route to file your claim under the current statute of limitations.

For a free, confidential case review, call The Law Office of Andrew Shubin’s attorneys for sexual abuse victims at (814) 826-3586 today.

Statute of Limitations for Sexual Abuse Claims in Texas

One of the most important legal issues to contend with in sexual abuse claims is the statute of limitations.  These laws are designed to stop people from filing old claims that they had not yet addressed so that evidence does not go stale and defendants do not sit around for decades wondering if an old case will pop back up.  However, when it comes to sexual abuse claims, victims are often much more reluctant to come forward, or they might not even clearly remember what happened to them or understand that it was abusive if it happened when they were quite young.  As such, Texas does have extended filing deadlines for these cases.

Typical injury cases only have a 2-year statute of limitations under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003.  However, the deadline to file for most sexual abuse claims involving an underage victim is 30 years under § 16.0045(a) and 5 years for adult victims under § 16.0045(b).  Additionally, for those abused as minors, the 30-year timer does not start running until you turn 18, as per § 16.001, meaning you have until age 48.

It is important, however, to look at when these statutes were passed.  These laws are not retroactive, meaning that they only apply from the date the law was signed forward.  If your abuse happened many years ago, it might have occurred when the law was different, and your claim will have to follow the old statute of limitations.  For example, the statute of limitations for sexual abuse was 5 years prior to September 1, 2015, at which point it was extended to 15 years, then to 30 years in 2019.  Our attorneys for sexual abuse can review your specific case, analyze the law in place when the abuse happened, and determine when your case needs to be filed.

What Constitutes Sexual Abuse in Texas?

With these statutes of limitations discussed above, Texas is somewhat particular about what acts constitute “sexual abuse” to get the extended filing deadline.  As mentioned, injury cases typically have only a 2-year filing deadline, which would cover the broad category of “assault and battery.”  If what happened to you does not fit any other type of case, you can at least file for assault and battery for most cases of violent or offensive touching.  Otherwise, what happened to you will have to meet certain criminal law definitions to bring a civil case.

The statute of limitations references specific sections of the penal code and says that if the conduct you are suing for meets the definition of one of the listed crimes, then you get the advantage of the longer filing deadline.  All in all, these crimes do have more specific definitions than assault and battery, but they are nonetheless quite broad in what they cover.

For example, Penal Code § 22.001(a)(2)’s sexual assault of a child covers any penetrative sex with a child, but § 22.11’s “indecency with a child” more broadly covers any “sexual contact” with someone under 17.  All in all, these are usually broad enough to cover any sort of sexual abuse you might have faced as a minor.

When it comes to sexual assault of an adult, the code sections referenced mainly cover penetrative sex, sex trafficking, and forced prostitution rather than sexual touching alone.  In cases short of those offenses, you might have only 2 years to file for unwanted sexual touching.

Suing Institutions for Their Involvement in Sexual Abuse Cases in Texas

Laws across the country are in a movement toward recognizing that individuals are primarily responsible for sexual abuse but that institutions often protect abusers and allow them access and opportunities to abuse people, especially minors.  As such, you can often sue institutions like schools and churches for their involvement in these cases.

One common way institutions are involved in a sexual abuse case is if they hired the abuser and failed to properly screen them, listen to allegations, and remove or fire someone they should have known was a danger to children.  For example, keeping a teacher on staff after allegations of abuse would make the school responsible.

In other cases, the institution takes a much more active role in not only allowing the abuser to stay in a position of power or access but actively works to cover up the abuse and hide facts from potential victims and their families.  This is the allegation that is often brought against the Catholic Church, which had a documented history of taking priests out of communities where abuse was reported and moving them to new communities without warning the parishioners about the priest’s past abuses.

In these cases, the institution is often able to pay in a way that an individual abuser is not, especially when it comes to clergy members and teachers, who often do not have the personal income or wealth to afford their victims’ damages.  By joining the institution in the lawsuit, you may open access to the damages you need.

Call Our Lawyers for Sexual Abuse Victims in Texas Today

If you need help with a potential sexual abuse claim, call (814) 826-3586 for a free case evaluation with the lawyers for sexual abuse at The Law Office of Andrew Shubin.