The Archdiocese in Vermont settled with a number of former alter boys who claimed they were victims of Catholic sex abuse at the hands of several clergy members 3 decades ago. Apparently it’s never too late to claim justice. The archdiocese agreed to pay more than 20 sex abuse victims more than seventeen million dollars to drop clergy sex abuse cases that were filed in Burlington’s Chittenden Superior Court. The ordeal has taken 8 years to settle, but 30 years later, the child sex abuse victims are vindicated. The church even apologized on it’s website. Sadly, child sex abuse isn’t limited to religious organizations. While priest sexual abuse, Catholic Church sexual abuse and rabbi abuse are most prevalent in the headlines, child sex abuse occurs in many other places such as schools and Boys and Girls Clubs. Even within the family unit. http://jurist.org/paperchase/2010/05/vermont-catholic-diocese-reaches-settlement-in-clergy-abuse-cases.php
Eighteen year old Justin Langlois endured child sex abuse inflicted by his paternal uncle, Casey Langlois. Young Justin was sexually assaulted over 50 times by his own uncle during a 14 month span. Casey Langlois was convicted of raping his nephew and resides in jail where he belongs. Justin bravely took the case further though, holding school officials responsible for letting the child sex abuse go on, filing a civil sex abuse lawsuit against the Washington South Supervisory Union, the Roxbury Village School and a few school employees. The school settled for a million dollars with Justin in less than a week.
Sex abuse attorney and child sex abuse advocate Samuel Rogatinsky wants to see others receive the same vindication that Justin received. Sexual abuse simply won’t be tolerated by Sam or the Rogatinsky Firm. If you have a child sex abuse case and want your day in court, you can reach Sam on the toll free number found on this site or call him at (954) 995-3805 after hours. Mr. Rogatinsky wants you to get all the help and therapy you need. He believes child sex abuse support sites such as http://www.wingsfound.org/ and http://www.crusadeagainstclergyabuse.com/ can help you recover as well.
In addition to clergy abuse cases, Mr. Rogatinsky will expose child sex assailants from organizations or institutions such as schools, medical professionals such as psychologists, mental health facilities and mental health practitioners, the Boy Scouts of America, Boys and Girls Clubs and athletic organizations and coaches. No organization is too big and no sex abuser is above the law.
The statute of limitations for Vermont are listed here:
Statute of Limitations for Civil Cases:
- There is a 6 year Statute of Limitations for child sex abuse cases to be filed after the victim reaches 18 years of age or within 6 years of the sex abuse itself, Vt. Stat. Ann. Tit. 12, § 522(a), or 6 after a disability such as imprisonment or insanity are removed. (12, §551) A sex abuse case must be filed within 6 years of the time of reasonable discovery, though the sex abuse victim doesn’t have to establish which sex abuse act caused the injury if the abuse was ongoing. 12, § 522(a).
Statute of Limitations for Criminal Cases:
There is a 6 year Statute of Limitations based unless the victim was less than 16 at the time of the sex abuse, then the Statute of Limitations is tolled until the victim’s 24th birthday: “Prosecutions for sexual assault, lewd and lascivious conduct and lewd or lascivious conduct with a child, alleged to have been committed against a child 16 years of age or under, shall be commenced within the earlier of the date the victim attains the age of 24 or six years from the date the offense is reported, and not after.” Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 13, § 4501(c). If the sex abuse offenses occurred before the victim turned 18 but when the victim was older than 16, the 6 year Statute of Limitations applies. 13, § 4501(b). There is a 6 year Statute of Limitations for aggravated sexual assault or kidnapping. 13, § 4501(a).
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