Raising Awareness of Childhood Sexual Abuse

The sexual abuse law firm of Cerri, Boskovich & Allard uses the law to make positive social changes. Under the leadership of attorneys Lauren Cerri, Mark Boskovich and Robert Allard, the sexual abuse legal team devotes a considerable amount of time and attention to bringing awareness to the childhood sexual abuse epidemic created by pedophile educators and coaches. Virtually all of the firm's pro bono efforts are devoted to ultimately eradicating childhood molestation from our society.

Toward that end, the law firm has engaged in significant legislative efforts to make it safer for children from pedophile teachers at schools and to advocate for the rights of sex abuse victims.

California law places an arbitrary time limit on when childhood sexual abuse lawsuits must be filed by. This time limit results in the protection of pedophiles and the institutions that enable their actions. The statute of limitations not only encourage predators and organizations to hide their behavior until the time limit expires, but they also deny survivors the ability to seek justice and heal.

Twice, we successfully persuaded the California state legislature to increase the age by which child sexual abuse victims would have to present claims from age 26 to the age 40. However, Governor Jerry Brown twice vetoed the legislation. It was not until the passage of Assembly Bill 218 in 2019 that victims of any age were provided with an opportunity to come forward for justice. Although the three-year window has closed, there still may be opportunities for justice. Give our law firm a call to learn more about your legal rights.

Recently, the Governor signed into law Senate Bill 755, which limits the time defense retained medical examiners have to examine sexual abuse victims to 3 hours (previously there was no limit). This new law will significantly help children go through the defense medical evaluation process, which we have found over the years is abused by defense lawyers.

Through our work in the sex abuse of athletes in Olympic Sports, featured in the Mercury News, we were able to get a complete revamping of the sex abuse policies and procedures. As a result of this work, hundreds of coaches are permanently banned from USA Swimming. For parents of children who participate in club sports, the new policies and procedures create a safer environment for children. For this, Allard received a “Person of the Year” award from a significant swimming media outlet.

The work accomplished in the USA Swimming litigation was the inspiration for the enactment of CCP Section 1002 which prohibits the concealing of any factual information involving sex abuse claims including settlements. The new law publicly identifies pedophiles. It makes their identity a matter of public record analogous to the registered sex offender laws. For victims of sexual abuse, the new law no longer legally allows for silence as a condition of the settlement. Victims are free to reveal details of the agreement.

We continue working on mandating “predator identification training” in all schools across California. Thus, anyone with access to kids on school grounds will learn to spot “red flag” warning signs of predatory behavior.

Our pro bono work is not limited to childhood sexual abuse cases. We worked with the legislature relating to the mandatory behind the wheel training for truck drivers. This proposed law stems from the case involving Daniel McGuire, killed in July of 2014. The inexperienced truck driver was operating a poorly maintained truck which suffered a catastrophic brake failure.

In another case outside of the childhood sexual abuse arena, our sexual abuse legal team worked on behalf of the family of Audrie Pott. Audrie, a fifteen-year-old student, was sexually assaulted while passed out at a party. She was then photographed and humiliated at school by her assailants. Audrie committed suicide eight days after the assault. In pursuit of justice for the Pott family, attorneys Lauren Cerri and Robert Allard championed “Audrie’s Law”, expanding the legal definition of “rape” to protect those who are unconscious or developmentally disabled.

In short, this is our sexual abuse legal team's way to give back to the community.

If you have a sexual abuse case, give our team a call at (408) 289-1417. The call is confidential and there is no charge. We're ready to help.