This case involved an 11 year-old autistic child, who was physically and sexually assaulted on a school bus by an emotionally disturbed student on multiple occasions, en route between school and home. There were two adults on the bus, a driver and an aide, neither of whom intervened. Our client’s status as an autistic child created special difficulties in proving liability and damages. He had a limited ability to describe the incidents although he recalled dates perfectly. Because of his limited baseline understanding of sexual activity, he did not, thankfully, sustain the types of emotional trauma typically associated with this type of trauma. Nevertheless, our young client possessed an engaging manner and was able to participate in a deposition, which convinced the defendants to offer a settlement in a sum that is confidential.

This case involved a young man who had been repeatedly sexually abused by a defrocked, former Greek-Orthodox priest. This priest, who had established his own “stand alone” church, had lured the vulnerable youngster into his midst with promises of menial work at the church. A suit was brought against the priest and his church. The defendant priest fled the country prior to his deposition. One of the biggest challenges in the case involved proving that the church trustees knew or should have known about the priest’s pedophile tendencies. The other challenge involved defeating the separate suit brought by the church’s insurance company which claimed that its coverage did not extend to acts of molestation by a priest. While these issues were being litigated, the church, its insurance company, and our client agreed to proceed to mediation where the case was settled for $800,000.