Police say several teenagers were sexually assaulted at Mitchell’s Martial Arts Studio in Salisbury.
Recently, authorities said there may be even more victims, and there’s the possibility of yet another arrest. Zachariah Bennett and Leah Wright face charges in the case. Both face more than 20 charges each.
Attorney William Hall joins us to talk about a family’s civil rights pertaining to this topic.
Many people do not know that besides criminal punishment, parents can also seek civil resolution.
“It is true that in cases that we have seen locally that the defendants are sentenced to decades in prison along with the sex offender registration requirements. In addition, parents can seek civil remedies to help cover the costs associated with counseling and punishing the bad actors in these cases,” William says.
Who would be held accountable in those instances? William tells us.
“Parents can sue the institutions/business where the abuse took place. For example, I represented a young man that was placed in a foster home by a placement agency. That placement agency did not follow-up on monitoring the foster care parents and he was sexually abused. I was successful in obtaining a settlement for him to cover counseling and a reward to punish that agency that was responsible for his placement. The individual that abused him plead guilty and was sentenced to 20 years of active incarceration. Currently we see cases where children attend after school programs and counselors have sexually abused those children. Not only is the person abusing the child guilty but the facility where the abuse takes place may be responsible as well,” William says.
If sexual abuse happens in the workplace, and an employer knows abo0ut it, the employer can be sued.
“If you can prove that the employer knew OR SHOULD HAVE KNOWN that the employee was committing this abuse then the employer can be sued. The legal term is respondent superior. And most employers have insurance coverage for these types of lawsuits and many are required to carry such insurance coverage if they have contracts with the schools providing such after school services,” William says.
