Helping Survivors of Adult & Childhood Sexual Abuse Find Justice

More than 150 priests, deacons, teachers and seminarians within the Archdiocese of Baltimore have been accused of sexually abusing more than 600 children and young adults over an eight-decade period. An explosive report by the Maryland Attorney General’s Office details pervasive sexual abuse within the country’s oldest Roman Catholic diocese. In some cases, parishes, schools and congregations had more than one alleged abuser at work. One, St. Mark’s Parish in Catonsville, had 11 alleged abusers living and working there between 1964 and 2004. One deacon admitted to molesting more than 100 children.

“Thanks to the 2024 legislature, Hawai‘i is taking an important step toward recognizing the unique challenges facing survivors of sex abuse, helping them on the long road to recovery and justice,” Galiher DeRobertis & Waxman’s Victoria Chang writes in a Hawaii Star-Advertiser guest commentary this week regarding the passage of Senate Bill 2601. Signed into law by Gov. Josh Green earlier this month, SB 2601 prioritizes the victim. Unlike criminal laws focusing on punishing perpetrators, civil lawsuits hold businesses and institutions accountable for failing to protect children. The new law acknowledges that most survivors do not report their abuse, and those who do often delay reporting by an average of 20 years.

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, has been rocked by allegations of widespread sexual abuse by pastors, church employees and officials. A 2019 independent investigation resulted in a 300-page report that uncovered sex abuse cases dating back more than two decades. The report revealed that denomination leaders ignored and covered up sex abuse allegations while vilifying sex abuse survivors. At least 200 abusers within the SBC have been convicted or pleaded guilty to sex offenses, according to independent news reports.

A towering symbol of Hawai‘i pride, Hawai‘i’s Kamehameha Schools has educated some of the Hawaiian Islands’ leading lights since 1887. Named for the monarch who united the Hawaiian Islands, Kamehameha’s boarding school on Oahu provided families of native Hawaiian descent the opportunity to educate their children on a campus with more than 70 buildings, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, an athletic complex that seats 3,000, and a resources that rival those of the world’s most-elite private schools. The school’s storied history, however, belies a dark secret that has only recently come to light. For generations, school administrators covered up what lawsuits by more than 30 former students have described as decades of “monstrous sexual abuse” perpetrated largely against male boarders who were entirely in the trust and care of Kamehameha Schools.

With its narrow focus on catching and punishing offenders, the criminal justice system too often leaves crime victims feeling forgotten, and in many cases victimized all over again. That’s especially true for victims of child sexual abuse, many of whom endure years of torment before bravely coming forward. During National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, we recognize the key role that our civil justice system plays in helping these individuals. Unlike the criminal courts, civil litigation focuses squarely on helping victims obtain justice and holding responsible parties accountable. It’s an honor to help victims achieve a measure of justice through monetary damages and awards against perpetrators and parties that too often turn a blind eye to their responsibility to protect individuals in their care.