Louisiana Sexual Abuse Lawyers

Louisiana treats civil claims involving sexual abuse of minors differently from ordinary injury claims.

Under Louisiana Revised Statute 9:2800.9, an action against a person for sexual abuse of a minor does not prescribe. The statute also provides that an action against a person convicted of a crime against the child does not prescribe and may be filed at any time following the conviction.

That distinction can be particularly important for survivors who do not disclose childhood abuse until years or decades later.

Child sexual abuse can involve adults who gain access to children through positions of trust, authority, supervision, education, recreation, religious activity, healthcare, or other settings.

Civil cases may require examination of much more than the conduct of the perpetrator. Records concerning supervision, complaints, background information, prior incidents, internal investigations, reporting procedures, personnel decisions, and communications can become important when determining whether another party contributed to the circumstances that allowed abuse to occur.

Louisiana has also enacted specific provisions addressing damages resulting from child sexual abuse in a school setting.

Sexual abuse can occur within institutions where adults or organizations have responsibility for supervising, protecting, or caring for others.

Potential settings can include:

• Schools

• Daycare and childcare facilities

• Religious organizations

• Youth programs

• Camps

• Residential facilities

• Healthcare facilities

• Athletic programs

• Universities

• Other organizations serving children or vulnerable individuals

An institution is not automatically liable simply because abuse occurred there.

The question is whether the organization's own actions or failures provide a basis for liability.

Depending on the facts, that can involve how an employee or volunteer was selected, whether warning signs or previous complaints existed, how individuals were supervised, whether required reports were made, and how the institution responded when concerns were raised.

Louisiana law imposes reporting obligations concerning suspected child abuse, and knowing and willful failures to report can carry criminal penalties under applicable circumstances.

Evidence concerning what an organization knew, when it knew it, and what it did in response can therefore become central to a civil case.

Sexual assault involving an Uber, Lyft, or other rideshare trip can raise issues beyond the conduct of the individual who committed the assault.

Depending on the circumstances, relevant questions may include:

• Whether the accused person was the assigned driver

• Whether the driver was logged into the platform

• What trip and location data exists

• Whether previous complaints had been made

• What screening procedures were used

• Whether the company received prior reports involving the driver

• How the company responded to safety complaints

• Whether another business or property owner was involved

Rideshare platforms generate electronic records that may help establish where a driver and passenger were, when the ride occurred, and how the trip progressed.

Preserving trip records, app communications, receipts, location information, messages, photographs, and other electronic evidence can therefore be important.

A rideshare sexual assault case is not simply another motor vehicle claim. The focus is on the assault itself and whether the facts support civil liability against the perpetrator or another responsible party.

Louisiana Civil Code Article 3496.2 provides a three-year prescriptive period for a delictual action against a person for sexual assault as defined by Louisiana law.

The period begins on the day the injury or damage is sustained or when law enforcement or a judicial agency notifies the victim of the offender's identity, whichever is later.

Other causes of action or defendants can involve different rules.

Because Louisiana treats these claims differently depending on the underlying circumstances, someone should not assume that the general deadline for an ordinary personal injury case determines whether a sexual abuse claim is timely.