AWK SURVIVOR ADVOCATE ATTORNEYS
Foster Care Sex Abuse
The purpose of foster care is to provide children with a safe home environment. Tragically, children in the foster care system are not always protected from sex abuse.
If you suffered sexual abuse while in foster care in New York, the New York sex abuse attorneys at AWK Survivor Advocate Attorneys want you to know that you are not alone. Our compassionate civil attorneys help survivors of child sex abuse and other types of sexual violence take legal action against the people and organizations that failed to protect them from sexual violence or to take proper action when allegations were made.
We understand the long-lasting pain that results from sexual abuse, and we are committed to helping you seek the compensation and justice you deserve through civil legal proceedings. We know what it takes to hold negligent parties responsible, and we will remain by your side through every step of the process.
What Is Child Sex Abuse?
Child sex abuse involves sexual contact or sexual interactions with a child perpetrated by an adult. Child sex abuse may occur without physical contact taking place, and it’s important to know that a child can never consent to any type of sexual activity.
Examples of Child Sexual Abuse:
- Rape
- Attempted rape
- Digital penetration
- Groping
- Inappropriate touching
- Kissing a child
- Masturbating in the presence
- of a child
- Indecent exposure with a child
- Creating child pornography
- Forcing a child to perform
- sexual acts
- Sex trafficking of children
Child Abuse in Foster Care
If a child has been orphaned or has birth parents who cannot provide a stable and nurturing home, they may be placed in foster care.
Tragically, children in the foster care system are not always protected from sex abuse. Foster care systems often lack the necessary funding, resources, staff, and supervision to ensure every child’s safety, making the children in them particularly vulnerable to this kind of abuse.
Most foster parents are loving, generous individuals who would never hurt the children in their care. However, a small minority of foster parents perpetrate abuse, including sexual abuse.
Moreover, foster children are less likely to speak out the abuse they’ve suffered because they don’t necessarily have an adult in their lives whom they feel comfortable opening up to. A foster parent who is perpetrating sex abuse might threaten the child if they speak out, which could endanger the child’s living situation.
Children who have been victims of sex abuse in foster care can take legal action against the foster parent who abused them and the foster care agency itself. If the agency was negligent in some way when they placed you in an unsafe environment, then you could recover compensation. For example, the agency may have been negligent if it failed to properly screen the foster parents or neglected to investigate allegations made against them.