Lawsuit Filed After JSO Officer Is Accused Of Sexual Assault Of Minor

A former JSO officer was accused of sexually assaulting a victim under the age of 12. It turned out that the officer was the girl’s softball coach. In Florida, a crime of this nature can result in a life sentence or even the death penalty. The officer was a 9-year veteran of the police force at the time of his arrest. The officer was initially under investigation after he was found in possession of a nude photo of an underage girl. A second victim came forward after the investigation began accusing the officer of inappropriately touching her during a sleepover.

A lawsuit has been filed against the officer who committed the assault and the athletic association that hired him to coach for them.

Sexual assault lawsuits 

Sexual assault lawsuits of this type gained notoriety after the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America, among other organizations, were accused of suppressing reports against their affiliates and then moving them to other communities where their deeds would have been unknown. This, of course, gave the culprits access to a whole new crop of victims. Because these institutions knew about the danger and failed to act on the intelligence, they were held liable for the conduct of their members.

The situation with the softball coach is slightly different. In this case, the athletic association hired a man who they believed was an upstanding member of the community, himself being an officer of the law. It’s dubious that they could have uncovered any information that gave them foreknowledge of the incident.

Vicarious liability 

Foreknowledge is an important element of proving institutional sexual abuse. However, it is not a requirement to sue a company for the conduct of their employees when they are acting within the aegis of their employment duties. In this case, the police officer was selected by the athletic association to provide softball coaching services. He was left alone with minors and took advantage of his position of power to harm them. The athletic association could thus be held liable for the conduct of an employee they hired to perform those services.

This lawsuit, however, does hold the athletic association accountable. Typically, when there are groups of children around, it would be good practice to have two adults around at all times. The family claims that the athletic association’s failure of policy allowed defenseless victims to be trapped with a serial predator. Complaints have been issued against multiple volunteers of the athletic association who failed to respond to the threat posed by the officer.

Talk to a Jacksonville Personal Injury Attorney 

Not all personal injury cases happen by accident. Sometimes, the conduct that causes injury is intentional. Victims of those who abuse their power over children may be able to file lawsuits against multiple parties. The Jacksonville personal injury lawyers at Gillette Law represent plaintiffs in these types of lawsuits.

Resource:

firstcoastnews.com/article/news/local/lawsuit-former-jso-officer-accused-of-sexually-assaulting-girl-on-softball-team-he-was-coaching-crime/77-1056bb41-31a9-4d39-9f59-772c8caae529