Abuse in childhood
New Jersey Child Sexual Abuse Lawyer
Sexual abuse suffered as a child can be the subject of a civil claim, brought now by a parent on the child's behalf, or brought later by the survivor as an adult. Most people who contact us about childhood abuse are adults, often decades on, and New Jersey law changed in 2019 in a way that matters a great deal to exactly those claims.
Free, confidential, and no obligation. You decide what happens next, and you can stop at any point.
- NJ Bar No. 032141988Verifiable, and published here so you can check it
- 37 yearsAdmitted in New Jersey in 1989
- No fee unless you winCases are handled on contingency
- Free and confidentialNothing you say here commits you to anything
Two very different people read this page
One is a parent who has just been told something by their child, or has worked something out, and is trying to find out what to do in the next few days. The other is an adult, often in their thirties, forties or older, who has known for a long time and has never asked anyone whether anything can be done.
The answers overlap, but the immediate questions are not the same, so both are answered here.
If you are a parent
The most useful things are also the simplest. Believe your child. Do not question them repeatedly, however strong the urge, because a properly conducted interview later is more valuable than an account assembled at the kitchen table. Write down what they said in their own words, with the date. Do not contact the school, club, church or organization to demand answers before taking advice, because that conversation tends to start an internal process you cannot control.
If you are an adult survivor
The two things that stop people are usually time and doubt. On time: New Jersey changed its law in 2019, and advice given before that was answering a different question under different rules. On doubt: not being certain whether what happened counts is the single most common reason people call, and it is a good reason to.
“I only recently understood how much it affected me.”
This is a common and legally relevant thing. Survivors frequently do not connect the abuse to what followed until years later, in therapy, at a life change, or when their own child reaches the age they were. When that recognition arrived can matter to how the deadline is analyzed.
“I do not want to put my family through it.”
A claim brought by an adult belongs to that adult. It does not require a family member’s agreement or involvement, and where the abuse happened inside a family, keeping relatives out of it is a normal position rather than an awkward one.
What a civil claim actually is
It is a claim for compensation brought by you, or on a child’s behalf, entirely separate from any criminal case. It does not require a police report, a charge, or a conviction, and it can be brought where a prosecution never happened or ended in an acquittal. It is decided to a lower standard of proof and it asks a different question: not whether someone should be imprisoned, but whether you were harmed and who is answerable for it.
That distinction is the reason this page exists. Most people who were abused as children never saw a criminal case, and many believe the absence of one closed the matter permanently. It did not.
Who a claim can be brought against
The individual, and frequently an organization whose own failures allowed the abuse. The organization is usually where the substance of a claim lies, because it has records and insurance and because its conduct is documented.
Where the abuse happened determines which duties applied and what evidence exists. Each of these is dealt with in detail on its own page.
- A school, by a teacher, coach or staff member
- A church, parish or religious organization
- A daycare or childcare center
- Foster care, a group home or a residential facility
- A doctor, hospital or therapist
The theories of responsibility are the same across all of them: negligent hiring, negligent supervision, negligent retention, failure to report, and in some circumstances vicarious liability. They are set out on the institutional liability page.
Abuse inside a family
A claim can exist here too, and it raises questions the institutional cases do not: whether there is any insurance that responds, what it means for relationships that still exist, and whether anyone outside the family knew. Where a school, agency, doctor or church was told and did nothing, there may be an institutional claim alongside the family one.
These conversations are had carefully and at your pace, and nothing is filed because you asked a question.
What is not required
People disqualify themselves over all of these, and none of them prevents a claim.
- A police report, a criminal charge, or a conviction
- Having told anyone at the time
- Medical records, photographs or physical evidence
- A continuous or sequential memory of what happened
- Knowing the full name of the person, or where they are now
- Certainty that what happened was serious enough to count
What to do now
If a child has just disclosed something, these are the things that help most in the first few days.
- Believe them, and do not question them repeatedly. The urge to establish exactly what happened is natural and it works against a properly conducted interview later.
- Write down what was said in the child’s own words, with the date, as soon as you can.
- Do not contact the school, club or organization to demand answers before taking advice. That conversation starts an internal process you cannot control.
- Keep anything you still have, and do not go searching for what you do not.
Emergency and hotline numbers, including the New Jersey child abuse hotline, are at the foot of every page on this site.
What a claim can recover
Typically the cost of therapy and treatment already had and still needed, the effect on education, work and earning capacity, and the harm itself. In claims about childhood abuse, the effects are often the whole of adult life rather than a discrete period, and that is what the claim is addressing.
There is no fee unless a claim succeeds, and no cost to asking whether you have one.
How long do you have to file in New Jersey?
If you were abused as a child, you can generally bring a civil claim in New Jersey until your 55th birthday, or within seven years of realizing that your injuries are connected to the abuse, whichever of those is later.
If you were an adult when the abuse happened, the period is generally seven years from the incident, or seven years from the point at which you connected the harm to it.
New Jersey also ran a two-year lookback window, from December 1, 2019 to November 30, 2021, during which claims that had already expired could be brought regardless of age. That window has closed. It is worth being clear about, because people hear that it closed and conclude they have missed everything, when the ordinary deadlines above are separate and often still leave years.
Which of these applies to you, and when your seven years started, depends on facts specific to you. A short confidential call will tell you where you actually stand.
Free, confidential, and no obligation. You decide what happens next, and you can stop at any point.
Cases Joe has resolved
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$6.1 Million Recovery
for a woman who was sexually assaulted after being overserved alcohol.
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$4.5 Million Settlement
for a minor who was sexually abused as a student by a staff member at her public school.
Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstance. Every case turns on its own facts, and no result here predicts what any other case is worth.
Questions people ask
Can I sue for abuse that happened to me as a child?
Often, yes, including many years afterward. New Jersey substantially expanded these deadlines in 2019. A survivor abused as a child can generally file until their 55th birthday, or within seven years of connecting their injuries to the abuse, whichever is later. A great many people assume they are too late when they are not.
Who brings the claim, me or my parents?
If you are still a child, a parent or legal guardian brings it on your behalf. If you are an adult, you bring it yourself, and you do not need any family member's agreement or involvement to do so.
Can I bring a claim without my family knowing?
A first conversation is confidential and involves nobody else. If a claim is filed, what becomes visible and to whom is discussed with you in advance. Many adult survivors do not want family involved, particularly where the abuse was inside the family, and that is a normal and workable position.
I never told anyone at the time. Does that count against me?
No. Not disclosing is the ordinary response of a child, not an unusual one, and it is understood as such. Children are commonly threatened, told they will not be believed, or simply lack the words. None of that weakens a claim.
I only recently connected it to problems I have had ever since.
That is extremely common and it can matter legally. Many survivors do not link the abuse to its effects until years or decades later, sometimes in therapy, sometimes when their own child reaches the age they were. When that understanding arrived can be relevant to the analysis.
What if the person who abused me was a family member?
A claim can still exist. Whether there is also an institutional claim depends on the circumstances, for example where a school, agency or church knew and did nothing. Intrafamilial cases raise practical questions about insurance and about family that are worth talking through.
What if the abuser is dead?
A claim may still be possible, particularly against an institution that was responsible for putting them where they were. The death of the individual does not end an organization's responsibility.
My child has just disclosed something. What do I do first?
Believe them, do not question them repeatedly, and write down what was said in their own words with the date. If they are in immediate danger call 911, and suspected child abuse can be reported at 1-877-652-2873 at any hour. Then call for advice before contacting the school, club or organization involved.
Can I sue the person who abused me as a child?
Yes, and you can often also sue the organization that gave them access to you. Claims against an individual are limited in practice by whether that person has anything to pay with, which is one of the main reasons institutional claims matter so much in this area. Both can be brought together.
If you are still reading
People usually read a page like this several times over several weeks before they contact anyone. That is normal, and there is no deadline on this page trying to push you. When you are ready, the call is free and it stays between you and Joe.
Free, confidential, and no obligation. You decide what happens next, and you can stop at any point.