Georgia Injury Lawyer Blog

Two years ago at our law firm, I received a phone call I could not believe--another episode of sexual abuse of a a young child, entrusted to the care of a prominent day care center.

The child's mother said her lawyer did not know what to do to help her. She was told to call our law firm because we had successfully helped other families whose children had been molested in child care or after school programs.

What shocked me was that her child was molested (by an older child) in the very same "after school care" room of the same day care center that had allowed another client's first grade child to be molested. Different staff, different manager, but same result. It was another in a series of case our lawyers have handled involving sexual assault and sexual abuse.

These are disturbing cases, but fortunately we had identified knowledgeable and experienced experts to advise our clients on what treatment their little ones need to begin to heal. A courageous young teacher told the truth about how the center regularly left him "over ratio," with too many children to supervise. The center also had failed to warn its young staff that children in its facilities had been known to sexually abuse other children.

We built a strong case, and the center's insurance carrier paid our clients too much to go to trial. I hate that it happened to yet another child, but am very happy for the family that their child will have the treatment needed.

Continue reading "Sex Abuse in Child Care and Day Care Centers: Obtaining Justice for Victims of Sexual Molestation" »

The Georgia injury lawyers at Finch McCranie, LLP have represented, and continue to represent, victims of day care child abuse. The statistics on physical child abuse are alarming. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of children are physically abused each year by a parent or close relative; however, abusers include daycare workers, healthcare providers, mental healthcare workers and others who care for children on a daily basis.

We currently represent a young victim who was abused while a patient in the psychiatric ward of a Georgia hospital and a young victim of a sexual assault that occurred while a patient in an Atlanta brain injury rehabilitation facility. Just last week the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on a case where children were abused by a staff member at a Kennesaw day care center. According to the article, an investigation revealed that other employees of the day care center knew the abuse was happening! Although physical abuse is perhaps the most common form of abuse, it is not the only kind of child abuse. Many children are victims of neglect, or sexual abuse, or emotional abuse.

In 2005, 899,000 children in the U.S. were victims of child abuse, neglect and maltreatment: 90% suffered neglect, 3.6 suffered medical neglect, 13% were physically abused, 4% were sexually abused and 1% were psychologically mistreated. Children who have been abused may display:

a poor self image
sexual acting out
inability to trust or love others
aggressive, disruptive, and sometimes illegal behavior
anger and rage
self destructive or self abusive behavior, suicidal thoughts
passive or withdrawn behavior
fear of entering into new relationships or activities
anxiety and fears
school problems or failure
feelings of sadness or other symptoms of depression
flashbacks, nightmares
drug and alcohol abuse

Proper treatment through experienced professionals is the key to starting to heal the damage. Legal action is often the only way that those who allow the sexual abuse to occur will take responsibility for their failures.

Continue reading "Physical & Sexual Abuse At Georgia Day Care Centers" »