Elizabeth Sexual Abuse Lawyer

Sexual abuse and assault are among the most devastating experiences a person can endure. These crimes have a profound impact on survivors, leaving them to cope with the emotional and psychological effects long after the physical injuries have healed.

At Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, we are dedicated to providing compassionate and expert legal representation for survivors of sexual abuse in Elizabeth. We understand the profound emotional and physical impact that sexual abuse can have, and we are committed to supporting you every step of the way in your pursuit of justice.

Why Choose Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers

The experienced legal team at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers specializes in handling sensitive and complex sexual abuse cases, with a proven track record of achieving substantial settlements and verdicts. We meticulously investigate each case to ensure that all aspects of the abuse, including emotional trauma, therapy costs, and other damages, are fully addressed.

Choosing Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers means choosing a team that is dedicated to your well-being and determined to secure the justice and compensation you deserve. Throughout the entire process, we provide compassionate and transparent support, ensuring you feel informed, empowered, and confident as we work together to achieve the best possible outcome.

Understanding Sexual Abuse and Assault

Sexual abuse and assault range anywhere from unwanted sexual comments to aggravated sexual assault. Essentially, any unwanted sexual behavior or action can be a sex crime. 

Consent is needed for any sexual act, and when it’s not given freely, verbally, or continuously, it can be considered sexual harassment, rape, or another sex crime. 

Power imbalances also play a role in many sexual abuse cases, as abusers often use manipulation or coercion to sexually abuse someone. 

Common Forms of Sexual Abuse

While sexual abuse and assault are classified as sex crimes, they cover a wide range of behaviors that you might not even realize qualify as such. The most common forms of sexual abuse include:

• Child Sexual Abuse: Any sexual activity that’s between someone over 18 years old and a minor. It ranges anywhere from grooming and sexual exploitation online to rape. 
• Statutory Rape: Certain people cannot legally consent because of their age or mental capacity. Statutory rape is often between someone who says “yes,” but because of their age, the law says they cannot consent. 
• Voyeurism: Watching someone getting undressed or participating in sexual activity without them knowing about it. 
• Exhibitionism: When someone knowingly exposes their genitals to another without their consent. Usually, it happens in public. 
• Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault: The use of alcohol or drugs to incapacitate someone before performing sexual acts. 
• Rape and Sexual Assault: Non-consensual sex of any kind and with any degree of force. 
• Incest: Sexual behavior and activity between two family members, usually with an adult and a child. 
• Sexual Harassment: Any unwanted sexual comments or touching. 

Institutions Where Sexual Abuse Is Most Likely to Occur

Unfortunately, sexual abuse and assault can happen anywhere and to anyone. At Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, we’ve been able to help people who have been victims of sexual assault in various institutions, such as:

• Daycare Facilities: Childhood sexual abuse doesn’t just happen at home; it can happen in daycare facilities while guardians are at work. 
• Military Institutions: Those serving our country shouldn’t have to worry about sexual abuse and assault, but the military has its fair share of these crimes. 
• Hotels and Short-Term Rentals: Due to their transient nature, many hotels and short-term rentals see an influx of sexual assault incidents. 
• Shelters: Those staying in shelters are looking for a safe place, but the sexual abuse and assault that sometimes happens in them is anything but. 
• Educational Institutions: There have been reports of sexual abuse and assault at academic institutions, ranging from elementary schools to college campuses. 
• Religious Institutions: No one wants to believe sexual abuse and assault can happen in religious settings where they should be safe, but clergy abuse is quite common. 
• Nursing Homes: The elderly are a vulnerable population, especially in nursing homes where they should be healing, but they can be sexually abused and assaulted by staff or other residents. 
• Workplace: Sexual harassment is unfortunately commonplace in many workplaces, causing unfair and potentially dangerous working conditions. 
• Inpatient Treatment Facilities: Patients and employees at inpatient treatment facilities will take advantage of those staying there. 
• Prisons and Correctional Facilities: Just because someone’s incarcerated doesn’t mean they should be sexually abused or assaulted. We’ll protect your rights against other inmates or correctional officers. 
• Foster Care: Children in the foster care system are already dealing with so much, but some people still take advantage of these vulnerable people. 
• Sports Clubs: There are athletes of all ages who are in situations where they’re sexually abused or assaulted by other teammates, team coaches, and team doctors.

Steps to Take If You Are a Victim of Sexual Assault

If you’ve been sexually assaulted, knowing what to do next can be beneficial to you in building a case when you’re ready to file a claim. Regardless of whether you plan on filing a lawsuit right away, your well-being is the most important thing to consider. Here are some steps you might want to take: 

• Get Somewhere Safe: Do your best to remove yourself from the location where you were assaulted and get somewhere safe. If you can’t do it yourself, call 911 or other local authorities. 
• Go to the Hospital: Even if you feel fine and can’t see any injuries, get to a hospital to be checked out. It’s also a safe place to be away from whoever hurt you. 
• Request a Rape Kit: While at the hospital, you can request a rape kit be performed to help document any DNA evidence of the assault. 
• Preserve Evidence: If you can, preserve any evidence for the police to include in the report you’ll make. Try not to shower and wash your clothing, as difficult as that might be. 
• Document Everything You Can: If you can, write down or type in your phone anything you can remember about the assault, including before, during, and after. 
• Report the Sexual Assault: Ideally, you’ll want to report the incident right after it happens, but whenever you choose to do it, contact the Elizabeth police department to make an official report. 
• Look for Support: Reach out to those you care about for emotional support. This isn’t something you’ll want to do alone. If you don’t want to speak with loved ones, there are resources in Elizabeth like the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NJCASA). 
• Hire a Sexual Assault Attorney: Look into hiring an experienced sexual abuse and assault attorney who can protect your rights throughout the case. 

Compensation for Sexual Abuse Victims

While money won’t change what happened to you, seeking compensation from your abuser and the institution involved can be beneficial in the healing process. 

Not only does looking for a settlement help hold those accountable for their actions, but it can provide you with the compensation necessary to facilitate healing and rebuilding your life. We can seek compensation for: 

• Medical and Therapy Expenses: This compensation will cover your initial hospital visit, any medical treatments necessary, follow-up appointments, and therapy costs needed due to the sexual abuse or assault. 
• Lost Wages: If you cannot work for a period of time due to physical or emotional damage, we can fight to secure compensation for lost wages to help ease the financial burden. 
• Punitive Damages: In cases of extreme negligence, we can sue for punitive damages to punish all those involved in your abuse or assault. 
• Loss of Enjoyment in Life: You can receive compensation for the overall impact that the sexual abuse had on your life and inability to enjoy daily activities. 
• Pain and Suffering: This is general compensation for physical and emotional damage. 

Every sexual assault and abuse case is unique, and settlements can vary. However, understanding the factors that influence your overall settlement can help you prepare:

• The duration and severity of the abuse 
• The strength of the evidence presented 
• The overall impact on your life 
• The degree of negligence by any liable institution

Liability in Sexual Abuse Cases

While it’s ideal to bring your perpetrator to justice, sometimes they’re not the only ones liable for your abuse or assault. Institutions that created an environment for sexual abuse or assault can also be held accountable on legal grounds, such as: 

• Failure to Report: Ignoring or not reporting any suspected or confirmed incidents to the proper authorities, regardless of whether they’re a mandatory reporting agency.
• Negligent Hiring: Willingly hiring employees who are suspected of sexual abuse or have a questionable history. 
• Negligent Retention: Choosing to keep employees on staff who have been suspected of or confirmed to have sexually abused or assaulted someone. 
• Inadequate Supervision: Failing to enforce proper supervision as required by policies, such as allowing adults to be alone with children when it’s explicitly against regulations.
• Crafting an Environment Conducive for Abuse: Creating an environment where people are put in vulnerable positions where there are power imbalances, etc. 

When we’re trying to hold an institution liable in your case, there are a few legal principles that might be helpful for us: 

• Charitable Immunity: An immunity principle that doesn’t protect charitable organizations from being held liable for misconduct or negligence. 
• Title IX: Title IX is a federal law that requires educational institutions to have additional protection and policies to protect people from sexual abuse and assault. 
• Vicarious Liability: This principle states that institutions can be liable for their employees’ actions. 

How to Prove a Sexual Abuse Case in Elizabeth, NH

While we believe you when you say you were sexually abused or assaulted, we’ll still need to prove without a reasonable doubt that what happened happened. That’s why we have a thorough approach to proving a sexual abuse or assault case. We do this by: 

• Collecting any evidence of the sexual assault or abuse 
• Proving negligence and intentional misconduct 
• Showing the harm done 
• Working with experts for testimony 
• Linkin the abuse to the damages presented 
• Investigating the sexual assault or abuse claim thoroughly 

How Our Elizabeth Sexual Abuse Lawyers Can Help

Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers is ready to help you get the compensation you deserve, whether it’s in negotiations outside the courtroom or at trial. When you work with us, we can help you by offering: 

• Confidential Consultations: Coming forward and seeking justice isn’t as easy as it might seem. We’ll provide you with a safe place to tell us what happened confidentially and then go over your options. 
• In-Depth Investigations: We’ll work alongside law enforcement and other professionals to thoroughly investigate your claim. 
• Building Strong Cases: Once we take on your case, we’ll do everything we can to build a strong case that proves what happened to you and brings your abuser and potentially the institution to justice. 
• Offering Guidance and Resources: We’ll never leave you in the dark regarding your case. We’ll provide guidance on all the steps and offer local resources to help in the healing process.
• Handling Opposing Counsel Communication: You’ll never have to worry about speaking with your abuser or their counsel. We’ll handle all communications to make things less stressful for you as we can. 
• Going for the Maximum Settlement: After what you went through, the least we can do is ensure that you get appropriate compensation for the harm done. 
• Negotiating for You: We’ll work with opposing counsel and other legal professionals to come to a settlement that is deemed fair while making sure your abuser faces justice for their crimes. 
• Defending You in Court: If we can’t settle the case outside of court, we will advocate for you in trial.

The Time Limits for Filing a Claim in Elizabeth, NJ

In New Jersey, the statute of limitations for filing a sexual abuse lawsuit has been reformed to provide more opportunities for survivors to seek justice. 

Survivors of child sexual abuse can now file a lawsuit against individual perpetrators and negligent institutions—whether public or private—until they reach their 55th birthday or within seven years from the discovery of the damages, whichever comes later.

For adults who were sexually assaulted at the age of 18 or older, the law allows seven years from the date of the offense or from the discovery of harm to file a lawsuit, whichever is later.

These extended timeframes underscore the importance of hiring an experienced attorney who can navigate the complexities of New Jersey’s legal system and ensure that your case is filed within the appropriate deadlines. 

A skilled lawyer from our team will fight to hold the responsible parties accountable and secure the compensation you deserve, allowing you to focus on your healing and recovery.

Contact an Elizabeth Sexual Abuse Lawyer Today!

Our team of attorneys and legal professionals have experience handling these cases in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and will be your strongest advocate through the process. We understand how difficult it can be to come forward, but you can count on us to seek justice. 

Book a free, confidential consultation by calling 888-424-5757 or completing our online form.