EspañolAttorneys Luis Carrillo and Michael Carrillo are proud to have played a role in helping legislation SB 1053 get signed into law, aimed at protecting the right of childhood sexual abuse. The new legislation allows victims who couldn’t speak up before, speak up now and will make it more difficult for abusers and their employers to hide evidence, intimidate victims and threaten witnesses. SB 1053 clarifies current law, SB 640, which governs when a victim of childhood sexual abuse can file a claim against a public entity and seek justice through the courts. The previous legislation also required victims of sexual abuse from employees of a public entity to file a notice within six months of the incident. California is heading in the right direction in making sure children who are victims of abuse achieve the justice they deserve.
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By Luis Carrilloand Michael Carrillo T
“he passage of Senate Bill 1053 is viewed as a tre-mendous achievement by many child advocate organiza-tions who applaud California for recognizing how much of a traumatic impact sex abuse can be on children. The bill was passed as a clarification of the Legislature’s intent to exempt child sexual abuse victims from the six month claims process for public entities. The law addresses child sexual assault in the public sector and provides clarity concerning civil actions against abusers and those institutions who protect abusers. Many have sought the clarification that now explicitly marks the legislation. SB 1053 was passed directly in response to Big Oak Flat-Grove-land Unified School Dist. v. Superior Court (2018). In that case the 5th District Court of Appeal held that local school districts could enact claim presentation rules requiring claims of child sexual abuse be filed with the local district within six months. Lawyers throughout California then lobbied the Legislature for the passage of SB 1053.”
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“Previously, SB 640, a 2008 bill,had required victims of sexual abuse committed by employees of schools or other public entities to file a written notice within six months of the incident. SB 640 exempted child victims of sexual abuse due to the fact that victims can take years to come forward and speak about their abuse. Despite the passing of this bill, some school districts continued to challenge the law by requiring abuse victims to file a claim within a six-month period. This can be very difficult for victims who have suffered because of the emotional and physical trau-ma they have encountered. Often times, victims prefer not to talk about it, and they might not inform adults right away. In fact, it could take many years for the person to come to terms that they had been abused even sometimes into adulthood. Unfortunately, stories of children being sexually abused continue making headlines. School districts have been caught trying to protect their employees, asseen in sex abuse cases in school districts across the state. It’s clear that this problem of covering up for serial sexual predators will continue unless victims are given the ability to seek recourse for those that enabled this conduct. No child should be silenced because they couldn’t speak up within an imposed six-month timeframe. Schools chose to ignore the red flags and protect predators instead of doing the right thing and protect their students. With the passing of SB 1053, we’re sure that California is headed in the right direction when it comes to helping our children achieve the justice they deserve.”
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“Luis Carrillo is the managing partner of the Carrillo Law Firm, LLP where he has spent decades fighting on behalf of members of the underserved Latino community. His practice areas include child sex abuse, teacher abuse, police misconduct and civil rights litigation.LUIS CARRILLO MIKE CARRILLO Michael Carrillo is an attorney with Carrillo Law Firm, LLP. His practice focuses on child sex abuse, teacher sexual abuse, assault, youth organization abuse and civil rights abuse.”
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