Boston Injury Lawyer Blog

The New England Conservatory has admitted that it failed to abide by its own policy to protect kids when it hired a vendor as a school videographer and didn’t conduct the request background checks. Although in November 10 the acclaimed school started screening all vendors, in addition to volunteers and staff, it didn’t check Peter E. Benjamin, who had been freelancing at the conservatory for at least 10 years.

The background checks are part of Massachusetts’ new requirements for large institutions that primarily work with children. If conservatory officials had done a check on the 68-year-old, they would have discovered that he served five years in prison for sex abuse and rape during the 1990’s and he is a classified Level 2 registered sex offender. Charges against him involved recording himself in sexual acts with three teenage males and behaving in a predatory manner toward boy adolescents.

Last week, the school e-mailed about 6,000 ex- and current students and their families to let them know that it learned last month that Benjamin was a convicted sex offender. They’ve since fired faculty member Benjamin Zander, who has admitted that he knew about the videographer’s past.

Benjamin, however, has said that he didn't anything improper or inappropriate.

Schools are responsible for making sure that they people they hire don’t pose any threat to kids and faculty. When failure to take the appropriate actions of due diligence results in a child becoming the victim of a violent crime, the school can be held liable for Boston personal injury.

Massachusetts sex abuse can cause serious emotional, physical, and psychological damage to a child that can haunt him/her for life. Many kids are too scared to immediately report abuse incidents. Some may even repress the memory of what happened for years. (Fortunately, the state allows for adults who come forward later to seek damages for molestation or assault that occurred when they were children as long as it is within three years of discovering that the child sex abuse caused the personal injury.)

School says it failed to check into offender, Boston.com, January 15, 2012

More Blog Posts:
Dorchester, Massachusetts Child Sex Abuse?: Teacher's Assistant Accused of Lewd and Lascivious Behavior Involving Disabled Student, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, December 13, 2011

$3M Boston Clergy Sex Abuse Judgments Awarded to Two Victims, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, October 25, 2011

Salem, Massachusetts Sex Abuse Lawsuit Seeks Damages from Revere Van Company for Four Children, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, September 30, 2011

Continue reading "New England Conservatory Hired Videographer Who Was Convicted Sex Offender" »

Michael Phillips has filed a Massachusetts child sex abuse lawsuit against the city of Waltham. The 20-year-old says that school officials neglect to look into complaints accusing Robert Dacey of child molestation. This alleged negligence allowed the coach and teacher to abuse more kids.

Dacey would later be charged with 17 criminal counts of child molestation. However, he passed away in 2007 before the case against him could go to trial. Dacey was 49.

Phillips says that Dacey abused him and another friend three times by dressing as a woman and then giving them blindfolded massages. In his Waltham wrongful death lawsuit, Phillips, who was in the 8th grade at the time, accuses Dacey of sexually assaulting him.

He contends that a few years before the alleged molestations, students had already come forward to complain to the principal about Dacey and his sexual misconduct, but that school officials didn’t do anything. Former-Waltham High School principal John Graceffa is also a defendant in Phllipp’s Massachusetts sexual assault lawsuit for allegedly failing to act at the time. The city is a defendant because it gets federal funding through its school department and per Title IX regulations, has to prevent sexual discrimination (and sexual assault).

Suing a School for Massachusetts Child Sexual Abuse
Schools are responsible for adequately supervising the kids who are enrolled there. This includes making sure that the students are not exposed to any dangerous situations or persons that could cause them to sustain Waltham personal injury. Failure to warn of a danger or remove it despite knowledge of its existence can be grounds for a civil lawsuit.

Unfortunately, schools are favorite places for sexual predators to hunt for their victims. Add what seems to be a common case of officials looking the other way as teachers, coaches, or others abuse kids and it is the children that suffer.

The the statute of limitations for civil Massachusetts sex abuse cases is three years from when the act happened or three years from when the victim reasonably should have or did discover that the abuse caused injury.

Lawsuit: Waltham High principal failed to prevent sex abuse, Wicked Local, December 19, 2011

Former student sues city of Waltham for failing to protect him from sexual abuse, Boston.com, December 19, 2011

Massachusetts Law About Child Sexual Abuse

More Blog Posts:
Dorchester, Massachusetts Child Sex Abuse?: Teacher's Assistant Accused of Lewd and Lascivious Behavior Involving Disabled Student, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, December 13, 2011

$3M Boston Clergy Sex Abuse Judgments Awarded to Two Victims, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, October 25, 2011

Salem, Massachusetts Sex Abuse Lawsuit Seeks Damages from Revere Van Company for Four Children, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, September 30, 2011

Continue reading "Man Sues City of Waltham for Massachusetts Child Sex Abuse Allegedly Committed by Former Assistant High School Football Coach" »

Police say that a teacher’s assistant at the Harbor Pilot School in Dorchester is facing charges of engaging in lascivious and lewd behavior with a student who is disabled and non-verbal. The school employee has been placed on paid administrative leave. According to MassLive.com, the student, 14, is autistic. The boy’s mother told WBZ-TV says that it was police who notified her that someone walked into a room and saw her son with his pants down.

The issue of child sex abuse has come under intense scrutiny nationally with the arrests of ex-Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky and recently fired Syracuse University assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine. In Massachusetts, if you believe that your son, daughter, or you were the victim of child sex abuse, do not hesitate to contact one of our Boston injury lawyers to find out whether you have a case.

Unfortunately, as the Associated Press reported four years ago (this was a story that we covered in our Boston Injury Lawyer Blog) sex abuse involving teachers as perpetrators happens more often than we’d like to think. Now, with allegations of sex abuse focused on such high profile athletic coaches, questions are again being raised as to whether schools are doing enough to protect kids.

Sandusky is accused of sexually assaulting a number of boys. He is charged with over 50 counts related to sexual molestation, including child rape. Although his alleged victims were kids he worked with through Second Mile charity and not University students, a number of the incidents allegedly occurred on Penn State property. At least one sex abuse lawsuit has been filed suing Sandusky, the University, and his charity.

Regarding the sex abuse accusations surrounding Fine, one of his alleged victims has already sued the former Syracuse assistant coach for sexually abusing him when he was a child. Today, two other alleged victims, Mike Lang and his stepbrother Bobby Davis, have filed a defamation lawsuit against Fine, the university, and head basketball coach Jim Boeheim. The plaintiffs, who claim that Fine molested them repeatedly when they were kids, are upset that Boeheim accused them of lying about Fine and the abuse.

Alleged sex abuse victims announce lawsuit against Syracuse, CNN, December 13, 2011

Jerry Sandusky Waives Hearing, Suggests Victims May Have Colluded, ABC News, December 13, 2011

More Blog Posts:
$100K Lawrence, Massachusetts Clergy Sex Abuse Lawsuit Awarded to Andover Man, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, October 29, 2011

$3M Boston Clergy Sex Abuse Judgments Awarded to Two Victims, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, October 25, 2011

Salem, Massachusetts Sex Abuse Lawsuit Seeks Damages from Revere Van Company for Four Children, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, September 30, 2011

Continue reading "Dorchester, Massachusetts Child Sex Abuse?: Teacher's Assistant Accused of Lewd and Lascivious Behavior Involving Disabled Student" »

A man who was sexually abused by two clergymen when he was a teenager during the 1960’s will receive $100,000 from the Augustinian Order. His abusers, Rev. Alfred Murphy and a Brother John, are also accused of molesting other boys. The victims belonged to the St. Mary parish Catholic Youth Group.

According to the Massachusetts sex abuse complaint, the plaintiff, who is now in his 50’s, was molested about 25 times. He was one of a number of boys that the clergymen would take kayaking and swimming so they could abuse them during the trips.

The victim’s Boston injury lawyer says that the clergy sex abuse caused his client emotional injury, mental trauma, anxiety, nightmares, and depression. As a result, the plaintiff has spent a lot of money on therapy and medical bills.

The Boston clergy sex abuse attorney went on to say that that this compensation does not make up for what happened to the client. Rather, it is a validation that the plaintiff isn’t to blame for what happened to him.

The victim didn’t come forward until after he saw a newspaper article in the mail a couple of years ago reporting on how Murphy had been accused of abusing a 17-year-old during a 3-week camper trip. Although the plaintiff hadn’t forgotten he’d been abused, reading the story made him realize that problems he was suffering from in the present was because of the Lawrence clergy sex abuse he suffered.

Also mentioned in his lawsuit was a third party. Although not named in court papers, this person was accused of failing to properly supervise Brother John and Rev. Murphy.

Unfortunately, for years the Roman Catholic Church turned a blind eye to the fact that many of its priests were molesting young children. Many of these kids were too ashamed or scared to come forward right away or had suppressed the memories. Now, as adults, a number of them are remembering and/or garnering the courage to speak out and hold their abusers and the Church liable.

Religious order pays $100K to Andover man in abuse case, Eagle-Tribune, October 29, 2011

Rev. Alfred Murphy, BishopAccountability.org

More Blog Posts:
$3M Boston Clergy Sex Abuse Judgments Awarded to Two Victims, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, October 25, 2011

Kingston, Massachusetts School Psychologist Placed on Leave Over Clergy Sex Abuse Allegations, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, June 25, 2011

Former Campers Step Forward Claiming They Were Victims of Massachusetts Child Sexual Abuse at Camp Good News in Sandwich, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, April 13, 2011

Continue reading "$100K Lawrence, Massachusetts Clergy Sex Abuse Lawsuit Awarded to Andover Man" »

Two adults who were sexually abused by a former priest have been awarded $3 million—$2M and $1M judgments, respectively— in their Boston clergy sex abuse case against John Dority. The two victims were 10 and 13 when the ex-clergyman molested them during the early’s 70’s and late ‘60’s while they were members of a West Roxbury parish. The Massachusetts sex abuse occurred over several years.

Dority has admitted to abusing the plaintiffs. Now, 70, he is a registered sex offender who has already served time behind bars for child molestation.

The judgments were issued to the victims after Dority failed to respond to the Boston child sex abuse lawsuit and chose not appear in court. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Janet Sanders, who issued the award, said no amount could fully make up for the plaintiff’s suffering. Dority, however, likely does not have $3 million to pay the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs’ Boston child sex abuse case against the Order of Friars Minor Province of the Most Holy Name, is still pending.

According to the Boston Globe, Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priest Director David Clohessy has said that significance of the award amount is that it publicly validates the degree of suffering that the victims experienced because they were sexually abused. This is understandable, seeing as the effects of sexual abuse can last a lifetime.

In addition to prosecutors filing criminal charges against the perpetrators, a victim may be able to sue his/her abuser for damages. Even if the Boston child sex abuse happened years ago, you may still be able to recover compensation.

While winning your Massachusetts sex abuse lawsuit cannot erase what happened to you or the devastation it has created in your life, it could help you in your healing while holding your assailant liable.

Priest abuse victims get $3m ruling, Boston.com, October 22, 2011

$3 Million Awarded In Mass. Priest Sex Abuse Case, CBS Boston/AP, October 21, 2011

Database of Publicly Accused Priests in the United States, BishopAccountability.org

Abuse in the Catholic Church, The Boston Globe

More Blog Posts:
Kingston, Massachusetts School Psychologist Placed on Leave Over Clergy Sex Abuse Allegations, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, June 23, 2011

Former Campers Step Forward Claiming They Were Victims of Massachusetts Child Sexual Abuse at Camp Good News in Sandwich, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, April 13, 2011

Ex-Children’s Hospital Boston Pediatrician Sued for Boston Medical Malpractice and the Sex Abuse of Child Patients, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, February 17, 2011

Continue reading "$3M Boston Clergy Sex Abuse Judgments Awarded to Two Victims" »

In Salem Superior Court, a Massachusetts injuries to minors lawsuit has been filed against Ameriken Caring Services on behalf of one girl and three boys. The children are ages 9 and 10. According to the complaint, the Revere van company did not protect the kids from being physically assaulted and sexually molested by a van monitor.

The Peabody School Department had hired the van company to transport the kids to a summer program. The kids were allegedly molested on several occasions in July. Incidents involved inappropriate and painful touching and physical abuse.

According to the victims’ Marblehead personal injury lawyer, the children were scared to tell their parents about the abuse because they knew they would see the bus monitor the next day. The Salem, Massachusetts sex abuse complaint is alleging negligent supervision, hiring, and retention.

Massachusetts Sex Abuse
Unfortunately, sex abuse can happen to a child while under the supervision of another party. Even if that party didn’t actually molest your son/daughter, if he/she/the entity allowed your child to suffer any kind of harm, you may be have grounds for a Salem injuries to a minor lawsuit.

Child sex abuse can cause serious trauma to a child. Many of the injuries are invisible but can wreak havoc on the victim’s life.

In Massachusetts, the statute of limitations for filing a Boston child sex abuse action is within three years of the alleged acts or within three years of the victim discovering or reasonably discovering there was psychological or emotional trauma caused by the alleged abuse. However, the time limit for this action has to be told for a child until he/she turns 18.

Revere van company sued over alleged assaults, AP/Boston.com, September 14, 2011

General Laws, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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

Warning Signs, Stop it Now

More Blog Posts:
Cape Cod Sex Abuse: Woman Sues Camp Attended by US Senator Scott Brown, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, August 18, 2011

Kingston, Massachusetts School Psychologist Placed on Leave Over Clergy Sex Abuse Allegations, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, June 25, 2011

Ex-Children’s Hospital Boston Pediatrician Sued for Boston Medical Malpractice and the Sex Abuse of Child Patients, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, February , 2011

Continue reading "Salem, Massachusetts Sex Abuse Lawsuit Seeks Damages from Revere Van Company for Four Children" »

Cheryl A. Madden has filed a Barnstable sexual abuse lawsuit against the same Cape Cod camp where US Senator Scott Brown claims he was sexually abused as a boy. Madden, 45, says that a janitor at the camp raped her more than once and that officials at Camp Good News failed to protect her.

The defendants of her Cape Cod sex abuse case are the camp, two of its executives, the man who allegedly assaulted her, and a counselor. Madden claims that the counselors failed to take action even though she was in the girls’ bathroom during one of the rapes. Madden says that the janitor raped her multiple times during the summers of 1973 (when she was 7), 1974, and 1975. Camp Good News says there is no merit to Madden’s claim.

Madden claims that memories of the abuse surfaced two years ago after her dad, who died, left Camp Good News $111,000. She believes that the defendants either knew or should have known that the janitor was molesting her. Madden is accusing camp officials of concealing, suppressing, and purposely preventing the disclosure of the child sex abuse incidents that occurred there.

After Senator Brown went public with his experience of sexual abuse at the camp, other campers also came forward with similar allegations. One camp employee, Charles “Chuck” Devita, killed himself after he was accused of sexually abusing campers.

Recovered Memories of Sexual Abuse
Sometimes, a victim of sex abuse may “forget” what happened and not remember until years later. The forgetting may be an attempt to cope with and protect oneself from the trauma. Yet forgetting doesn’t mean that there aren’t repercussions for the victim.

Child sex abuse can cause severe emotional, sexual, and psychological damage for victims, and these injuries should be acknowledged. You should work with a Boston injury lawyer that knows how to handle cases involving Massachusetts sex abuse so that you can hold the abuser and those that enabled/allowed the abuse responsible.

Woman sues camp where Scott Brown was allegedly abused, Boston.com, August 18, 2011

Woman allegedly repeatedly raped by a janitor at Camp Good News, Cap Cod Today, August 18, 2011

Not unusual to forget childhood sexual abuse, Harvard.edu, October 12, 2006

Related Web Resources:
Camp Good News

Stop It Now

Child Sex Abuse, National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome

More Blog Posts:
Kingston, Massachusetts School Psychologist Placed on Leave Over Clergy Sex Abuse Allegations, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, June 25, 2011

Former Campers Step Forward Claiming They Were Victims of Massachusetts Child Sexual Abuse at Camp Good News in Sandwich, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, April 13, 2011

Clergy Sexual Abuse Lawsuit: Victim Sues the Pope, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, September 24, 2010

Officials at Silver Lake Regional High School have placed school psychologist Robert F. Daly on leave after they recently found at that he had been a defendant in a Massachusetts sexual abuse lawsuit. The complaint accused Daly of molesting children in the 1970’s and 1980’s while he was a priest.

Daily, who was ordained in the 1860’s, last worked as a priest in 1984. It was in 2005 that he and 16 other priests, three archdiocese lay employees, and high-ranking church officials were sued by 25 people who claimed they were the victims of Massachusetts sexual abuse. The case was settled in arbitration.

Silver Lake Regional High School wasn’t aware of the sex abuse lawsuit until earlier this month, when it was announced that Daly had asked to be defrocked. Since he was hired by the school district in 2001, there have been no complaints about him. As a school psychologist, Daly’s job involves trying to determine whether students need special education support and developing plans for those that do.

Massachusetts Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse is a serious crime and one that causes injuries that can leave a person emotionally incapacitated for life. If your child was molested by a friend, teacher, doctor, priest, camp counselor, relative, or anyone else, you may be able to file a Boston sex abuse case to sue the perpetrator for damages.

In Massachusetts, actions over the sexual abuse of minors can be brought within three years of the acts allegedly occurring or within three years of when the victim found out or reasonably should have discovered that an psychological or emotional injury or condition was a result of sexual assault and battery. The time limit for beginning an action is tolled for a child until he or she turns 18.

Silver Lake school psychologist placed on leave over abuse allegations, MetroWest Daily News, June 18, 2011

Sexual abuse of minors, Massachusetts General Laws

Related Web Resources:
Bishop Accountability

Child Sexual Abuse, AmericanHumane.org

More Blog Posts:
Former Campers Step Forward Claiming They Were Victims of Massachusetts Child Sexual Abuse at Camp Good News in Sandwich, Boston Injury Lawyers, April 13, 2011

Clergy Sexual Abuse Lawsuit: Victim Sues the Pope, Boston Injury Lawyers, September 4, 2010

Massachusetts Clergy Sexual Abuse: Defrocked Priest Paul Shanley Challenges Conviction for Indecent Assault & Battery and Child Rape, Boston Injury Lawyers, September 9, 2009

Continue reading "Kingston, Massachusetts School Psychologist Placed on Leave Over Clergy Sex Abuse Allegations" »

A number of people have come forward claiming that they were the victims of Massachusetts child sexual abuse while attending Camp Good News. The ex-campers made their allegations after US Senator Scott Brown revealed that he was molested at a Cape Cod religious camp when he was a boy. The camp was later identified as attending Camp Good News, a Christian Camp in Sandwich.

While the Boston Globe last week counted six adults alleging child sex abuse at the camp, one Boston injury lawyer claims that 13 people—2 women and 11 men—have contacted him claiming that they were abused while attending the camp. The Cape Cod sex abuse incidents allegedly occurred between the 1970’s and 1990’s and multiple perpetrators were allegedly involved. However, some of the adults did say that they were molested by Charles “Chuck’’ Devita, a camp employee who killed himself last week after a an ex-camper said Devita sexually abused him.

In the wake of the allegations and the ongoing investigation, Camp Good News announced that it will be closed this summer.

Child Sexual Abuse
Time and again, our Boston injury lawyers have seen the impact child sex abuse can have on the victim and his/her family. Sex abuse is a damaging crime that can cause serious physical, emotional, and psychological harm to a victim. The perpetrator may be someone the child knows, such as a trusted friend, relative, teacher, doctor, counselor, priest, or babysitter. In these cases, there is the additional trauma of having that assailant be someone who violated the victim's trust.

If you were sexually abused or your son or daughter has been molested or sexually assaulted, you may have grounds for a Boston sexual abuse lawsuit.

2 more ex-campers allege abuse, but not by man who took own life, Boston.com, April 8, 2011

Man: I told Camp Good News about Chuck Devita's child porn, MyFox Boston, April 12, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Camp Good News

Child Sex Abuse, MedlinePlus

More Blog Posts:
Ex-Children’s Hospital Boston Pediatrician Sued for Boston Medical Malpractice and the Sex Abuse of Child Patients, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, February 17, 2011

Clergy Sexual Abuse Lawsuit: Victim Sues the Pope, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, September 24, 2010

Boston Sexual Assault: Former High School Basketball Coach Faces Criminal Charges for 1976 Rape, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, April 18, 2010

Former Children's Hospital Boston pediatrician Dr. Melvine Levine is the defendant of a class action complaint accusing him of Boston medical malpractice and Massachusetts child sex abuse. The lawsuit blames the hospital for failing to properly supervise him during 40 cases over two decades and of knowing (or that it should have known) that Levine was not fit to treat minor boy patients or care for them without supervision. The hospital has denied the allegations and notes that the pediatrician has not practiced there for a quarter of a century. This is not the first lawsuit accusing Levine of medical negligence and child sex abuse. In 2009, he agreed to give up practicing medicine permanently.

This latest Boston sex abuse complaint, however, seeks to represent all the kids that Levine examined between 1966 through 1985, which includes about 5,000 boys. He allegedly performed unnecessary genital exams on patients.

Boston Sex Abuse as Massachusetts Medical Malpractice
Sexual abuse is a crime that causes serious physical, emotional, and psychological injury to adults and children. If you or someone you love has been the victim of sexual abuse, you may have grounds for a Boston injury lawsuit against your assailant and/or the party that allowed the abuse to happen. If your abuser is a medical professional, you also may have reason to sue for Boston medical malpractice.

A physician or another medical professional that uses his/her relationship to molest, sexually assault, or rape a patient is providing that patient with damaging and negligent medical care.

Former Children’s Hospital Boston Pediatrician Is Sued For Sexual Abuse And Medical Malpractice, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, March 31, 2008

Suit: Doc molested 30 patients at Children’s Hospital, Boston Herald, February 17, 2011

Sex abuse allegations widen against former Children's Hospital doctor, Boston.com, February 17, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Children's Hospital Boston

Child Sex Abuse, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

More Boston Injury Lawyer Blog Posts:
Rebecca Riley’s Estate Reaches $2.5M Boston Medical Malpractice Settlement with Tuffs Medical Center Psychiatrist, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, January 25, 2011

Boston Sexual Assault: Former High School Basketball Coach Faces Criminal Charges for 1976 Rape, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, April 18, 2010

Massachusetts Clergy Sexual Abuse: Defrocked Priest Paul Shanley Challenges Conviction for Indecent Assault & Battery and Child Rape, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, September 10, 2009