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Preventing Grooming is the Key
Do parents who send their children to ball practice ever think that they might be handing them over to a sexual predator? That’s probably the last thing that crosses their mind. They assume that they can trust the coaches, volunteers and league administrators who come in contact with their children.
Child sexual …
The risks organizations face and the preconditions for coverage
Sexual abuse and molestation is, unfortunately, a major topic of conversation within youth sports insurance in the past decade. The sports insurance carriers that write General Liability have been decimated with a number of large settlements and adverse jury verdicts.
As a result, most carriers are not willing …
Check if you’re covered under General Liability
Insurance carriers that write General Liability insurance for sports and recreation organizations take two approaches to covering lawsuits alleging sexual abuse and molestation. Some carriers’ policy forms remain silent on the issue under the theory that it is covered if it is not excluded. This is usually true, but …
Keeping youth athletes safe from sexual predators
Child sexual predators fall into one of two categories: “grabbers” and “groomers”. Most sexual misconduct involves grooming, which can easily be confused with innocent behavior. The best way to protect children against sexual grooming and thus sexual misconduct is to protect them against inappropriate boundary invasions.
Sexual grooming by adults …
Lessons to be learned about managing locker rooms to prevent child abuse and invasion of privacy
The class-action lawsuit filed in S.C. State Court alleges that Bishop England High School in Charleston, South Carolina knowingly allowed windows for staff viewing of students inside the boy’s and girls’ gym locker rooms. The windows were apparently installed in …
Recognizing the signs and putting a plan in place
Regular readers of my blog and certainly all my clients know that I take a strong stand against child abuse. Any form of child abuse/molestation is reprehensible and goes against the spirit of healthy sports participation. To help combat the problem, we offer free abuse/molestation risk management …
How prevalent is it?
The media makes sure we know when allegations and indictments of sexual abuse take place in our communities, particularly when children are the victims. Schools, religious and recreational youth organizations are ripe for the picking by such predators.
But a recent study published in JAMA Pediatrics found that instances of all types of …
Settlements average $2.9 million per claim.
Six of Jerry Sandusky’s sexual abuse accusers have settled with Penn State, bringing the total paid out thus far to $93 million. It is possible there are still outstanding claims that will be paid out in the future. A university audit statement shows the school has paid or agreed to …
It’s much broader than just sex abuse/molestation
Sex abuse and molestation by coaches tends to get the most attention in the media and cause a lot of outrage, but there are many other forms of coach abuse. Sports administrators and parents can protect youth by being aware of physical,, emotional, and/or verbal abuse, neglect, bullying, harassment, …
Create a Hostile Environment
Whenever a sexual abuse/molestation (SAM) incident occurs, a civil lawsuit will likely be filed not only against the alleged perpetrator, but the organization, officers, board and others for failure to adequately screen staff, failure to implement policies and procedures to prevent an incident, and failure to appropriately respond to an allegation. Most …