Florida Personal Injury Attorneys Blog

Molestation Victims May Pursue Civil Claims
As the smoke starts to clear on the Penn State-Sandusky molestation claims, Syracuse University molestation accusations, and other recent child molestation claims, one major victory for me as a crime victim's rights advocate is that the public is seemingly more aware that victims have rights to pursue civil claims as crime victims.

Florida has a comprehensive crime victim's rights law. The law ranges from the rights in criminal proceedings, to victim's compensation, to Florida's Constitution, to civil claims for crime victims.

What types of compensation can a crime victim recover in Florida?

Continue reading "Civil Claims Publicized for Molestation Victims" »

When someone is sexually assaulted in Florida, there are three main areas of relief for the victim: Restitution through the criminal case; Florida's Crime Victim Compensation Fund; and a Crime Victim Civil Claim.

The criminal case focuses on the criminal and punishing the person for committing a crime against the state of Florida. The Compensation Fund focuses on provided some financial assistance to the victim to help pay for counseling expenses and other costs. The civil claim focuses on the crime itself.

In a civil claim for a sexual assault victim, we focus on the crime to see whether it could have been prevented or if it was foreseeable. If for example a woman uses an ATM and is robbed or raped while on the bank's property, the bank may be held liable under Florida law if they could have prevented the attack. Bank ATM rapes in Florida may be preventable if the bank fails to follow certain statutory guidelines.

Continue reading "Florida Sexual Assault Victims May Be Entitled to Money Damages" »