Sexual Abuse by Little League Coach Lawsuit Attorney

Playing sports is a memorable part of many people’s childhood, especially if they participate in a team sport, like baseball or softball through the Little League program. Known officially as Little League Baseball Inc., this non-profit organization was founded in 1939 with just 3 teams. Today, there are over 180,000 Little League teams all over the world, and approximately 2,600,000 participants between 4 and 16 years old.

With the right coach and support staff of caring and responsible adults, Little League can provide cherished memories that children look back on throughout their lives. Tragically, the thrill of competition, teamwork, and love of baseball can be overshadowed by sexual abuse for some of these children. Even worse, the emotional scars of sexual abuse don’t go away, even if the child leaves the team. As a result, an innocent minor is forced to live with the anger, guilt, and shame of what they experienced for the rest of their lives.

At Normandie Law Firm, we have spent decades helping those who are struggling with the pain and anguish of being sexually assaulted or abused by an adult they loved and trusted. We are dedicated to holding these people accountable and hope you will allow us to be a part of your journey to recovery. For advice and guidance from a sexual abuse attorney, contact us today.

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Liability for Sexual Abuse by a Little League Coach

Little League is the largest youth sports nonprofit organization in the world, and we have to acknowledge that it’s impossible for them to supervise every aspect of what the teams and staff members do on a daily basis. However, a certain degree of oversight, accountability, and security measures must be in place to protect children as young as 4 from a sexual predator.

The problem is, many people at the leadership level fail to take abuse allegations seriously. It’s very common to uncover decades of sexual misconduct by dozens of coaches and assistants in sports like gymnastics, cheerleading, football, and soccer for children. Little League Baseball has a legal duty to investigate assault and abuse claims and take additional measures to ensure the child’s safety. Adults in these organizations are also required by law to contact the police or child protective services to report child abuse, or even the possibility of child abuse.

Sadly, far too many of the people in charge fail to recognize red flags indicating an inappropriate relationship between coaches and youth sport participants. And when they do find out, they take entirely too long to remove the coach or enact any other punitive measures. Frankly, the only thing that would be acceptable to us is calling the police and making sure the accused is not allowed to interact with the participants in any way whatsoever. But there is a tendency to shield sexually inappropriate coaches, mainly as a way to protect the organization’s image.

At the end of the day, it’s the children who carry the burden of sexual abuse, even though they are innocent victims. We know that what happened to you can’t be taken away, no matter how much compensation you receive from a lawsuit. But the money that is awarded to you can help repair some of the damage by covering past, current, and future medical expenses and any loss of income you experienced due to sexual abuse while you were a Little League participant. You can also receive non-economic damages, like emotional distress to acknowledge how the abuse left you with irreparable damage on a psychological level.

Value of a Little League Coach Sexual Assault Lawsuit

For a single victim, the amount of damages for a sports coach sexual abuse claim may be within $400,000 to $1,500,000. You may have come across settlements that are $10,000,000 to $150,000,000, but please be aware that these awards usually pertain to class action lawsuits involving 12 or more plaintiffs. However, there have been trials that resulted in $5,000,000 to $10,000,000 for just one victim due to a variety of factors, such as:

• The type and number of sexual abuse incidents
• The age difference between the victim and their abuser
• The severity of trauma / injuries that resulted from the abuse
• Gross negligence by the defendant (failure to prevent the abuse or protect the victim and other kids who were being molested, groomed, etc.)

The Little League sexual abuse lawyers of Normandie can help you determine the right compensation amount to ask for and ensure that justice is served for you and your loved ones.

How Long Do these Cases Take to Settle?

Overall, sexual abuse lawsuits against youth sports organizations take between 1 and 2 years to settle. This is due to many factors that are beyond our control, including resistance by the organization to admit that they are responsible for such a horrendous crime. Even if they do admit liability, most of these entities are dealing with many lawsuits at the same time due to the number of victims that have come forward in the past several years. That’s why many victims wait 12 or more months to receive a settlement offer, though it’s unlikely to be anything close to what they deserve. As a result, most of these claims are negotiated back and forth between attorneys until both sides agree on the numbers.

If it seems that a settlement cannot be achieved, the next step is to ask for a court date. Keep in mind, however, that the negotiation process continues as a general rule even if you are preparing for a trial. In reality, over 95% of child sexual abuse lawsuits are settled before the trial date, so the chances of needing to present your case in court is very slim.

How Much Time Do I have to File a Lawsuit?

Normally, the statute of limitations for a child sexual abuse lawsuit begins on the date of their 18^th birthday. Starting from that date, you have 22 years to file a lawsuit as a survivor of sexual assault or exploitation by a Little League coach. Thus, it would seem that the age of 40 is the deadline to sue Little League Baseball or any other entity for the harm you suffered.

This is not necessarily true, however, as you can also base the time limit for a lawsuit on when you discover an injury related to sexual abuse. The laws in California recognize that most children suppress incidents of sexual abuse and live with the trauma well into adulthood. As a result, victims generally have psychological issues that affect their lives in negative ways. Once they realize how these issues were caused by sexual assault or exploitation during childhood, they can finally begin the process of healing and moving forward in a positive direction.

Starting from the date of realizing such an injury, the discovery rule gives you 5 years to file a sex abuse claim. To learn more about the discovery rule from a Little League coach sex abuse lawyer, reach out to us at our law firm.

Contact a Youth Sports Sexual Abuse Lawyer

Sexual abuse of a minor is abhorrent, no matter where and how it happens. Those who lived through this horrific experience deserve justice, and for many of them, filing a lawsuit is the right course of action. Asa sexual abuse attorneys, our job is to protect your interests and secure the highest settlement on your behalf. That includes offering you a Zero Fee Guarantee to make sure that your finances are not affected.

Under this policy, victims are never charged for the cost of legal representation. That gets added to the amount we demand from the other party and paid to us as long as we win your lawsuit. Since this is the only way we are compensated, you will never be asked to pay out of pocket when you sign with our law firm.

For a detailed discussion on the legal actions that are available to you, schedule a free case evaluation by contacting our office.

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