South Carolina might be aggressively fighting church sex abuse and clergy abuse, but is it enough? The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP http://www.snapnetwork.org/) recently informed South Carolina pastor Frank Page, president of the Southern Baptist Commission (SBC) to create an independent review committee to investigate and follow up on cases of clergy sex abuse in the state and in other various Southern Baptist churches. This is a good thing for the future if it is effective, but what of those already damaged or harmed by priest sexual abuse, Catholic child abuse, church sex abuse, rabbi abuse, and minister sex abuse? Clergy sex abuse has been a serial problem for years and many church sex abuse victims need to find closure, as do many sex abuse victims at the hands of other trusted authorities, such as doctors, dentists, Scout leaders, teachers and coaches.

Sex abuse of minor sadly doesn’t just occur in churches or at church functions. Recently, Jeremy Michael Spencer plead to assault and battery to avoid being prosecuted for sexual assault of a minor. He was a guilty teacher and a basketball coach in Greenville, coaching girls’ basketball teams. One of his innocent young victims alleged that the coach called her into his class only to have sex with her. Child sex abuse anywhere, in any institution, is simply unacceptable, and the Rogatinsky firm won’t sit idly by and allow it to go unpunished.

Samuel Rogatinsky, a noted child about sex abuse advocate and successful clergy abuse lawyer is doing all he can to see that child sex abusers are brought to justice. Sam isn’t afraid to take on any institution guilty of harboring child sex abusers. He’ll go after school, churches, even the Boy Scouts of America. Recently, Mr. Rogatinsky prosecuted a mental health facility guilty of sexually abusing a patient. He will stop at no end to see that you get the justice and the settlement that you deserve. Sexual abuse is an abominable crime, and the Rogatinsky will do all that it can to fight back. You can reach Sam on the toll free number located on this site or on his personal line at (954) 995-3805 if he’s out of the office. Mr. Rogatinsky even puts clients in touch with important child sex abuse support groups like http://www.crusadeagainstclergyabuse.com/ and http://www.d2l.org to get them the help that they need.

Contact Mr. Rogatinsky if you have any type of child sex abuse, clergy sex abuse or institutional sex abuse case if you want to see your sex abuser get what they deserve. For your convenience, the statute of limitations for South Carolina are listed here:

Statute of Limitations for Civil Cases:

  • There is a 6 year Statute of Limitations for child sexual abuse cases with a delayed tolling until the victim’s 21st birthday or within 3 years from reasonable discovery that the injury relates directly to the sex abuse. S.C. Code Ann. §15-3-555(A)(2008). This Statute can be delayed if a sex abuse victim has repressed their memory of the abuse to the date that the victim reasonably remembers the assault. Moriarty v. Garden Sanctuary Church of God, 341 S.C. 320, 534 S.E.2d 672 (S.C. 2000).
  • These Statute’s are only retroactive to sex abuse cases effective August 31st, 2001. . Doe v. Crooks, 364 S.C. 349 (S.C. 2005). Before 2001, the Limitations period was covered by §§ 15-3-530(5) and 15-3-535.

Statute of Limitations for Criminal Cases:

  • There is no Statute of Limitations for filing criminal prosecutions against sexual abuse against a minor in regards to a 1st degree felony if the sex abuser engages in sexual battery with a victim under the age of 11 or under the age of 16, or if the sex abuser was convicted previously of or plead guilty to committing a sexual offense. An abuser may not be convicted of a 2nd degree felony if he is 18 years of age or less when engaging in consensual sexual conduct with another person 14 years of age or older. S.C. Code Ann. § 16-3-655 (2008). Incest is also a crime under S.C. Code Ann. § 16-15-20.

If someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse by a member of the clergy, contact our law firm at (954) 995.3805 or send an email to sexual abuse lawyer Samuel Rogatinsky at samr@clergyabuse.org