A school’s staff is responsible for looking after the children entrusted to its care. When the staff exploits that trust by engaging in or allowing sexual abuse, the abuse survivors have a right to seek justice, including financial compensation.
If you are a survivor of sexual abuse at Archbishop Keough High School or another church-run institution, Jenner Law wants to make sure you get the chance to hold the school and the individual abuser(s) accountable for their actions. Our clergy sexual abuse lawyer can handle your entire legal case and seek the financial recovery and peace of mind you deserve.
How Can Our Clergy Sexual Abuse Lawyers Help Archbishop Keough High School Survivors?
The attorney team at Jenner Law is ready to assist our clients with every aspect of their cases, big or small, from beginning to end. Most importantly, we will handle your case respectfully, kindly, and confidentially.
Clients can rely on our Baltimore clergy sexual abuse lawyers to:
- Take care of all case paperwork, phone calls, and other clerical tasks to keep your case moving.
- Find evidence to support your allegations of abuse against the individual clergy member and the school.
- Find and present evidence of how you have suffered due to the abuse, which justifies the compensation amount you ask for.
- Speak to the liable party or parties for you, sparing you from coming face to face with your abuser.
- Negotiate a fair settlement or even take your lawsuit to trial, depending on your case’s circumstances.
Suing your abuser can be a difficult and cathartic experience. No matter how you feel, we encourage you to keep in touch, rely on family and friends for support, and let us know if we can do anything to make things easier for you.
Getting Justice After Clergy Sexual Abuse at Archbishop Keough High School
Archbishop Keough High School was a girls’ high school in Baltimore, Maryland. It is one of many religious institutions across the United States that allowed the sexual abuse of the vulnerable young people they were supposed to teach and guide.
If you are a survivor of sexual abuse at Archbishop Keough High School, there are several important facts you should know:
- The abuse was not your fault.
- You do not deserve what happened to you.
- The abusive clergy members and the permissive, negligent system in which they operated are responsible for your suffering.
- You have the legal right to seek financial compensation from the abuser and the high school.
Recent changes in Maryland state law make it easier for survivors to sue their abusers for child sexual abuse. As the Maryland General Assembly states, The Child Victims Act of 2023 repeals the statute of limitations in many such cases. This means:
- There is no longer a time limit or deadline before which you must file your case.
- You can sue, even if the abuse occurred years or decades ago.
- You have more time to consult a clergy sexual abuse lawyer from our firm and explore your legal rights.
In other words, even if you never considered filing a lawsuit before or thought that your window of opportunity had closed, you can reconsider your options now. Jenner Law can confidentially review your case at no charge, so it will cost you nothing to find out if you can sue.
Recoverable Damages for a Clergy Sexual Abuse Case Involving Archbishop Keough High School
If you do decide to sue, what can you get out of it? The main benefits include:
- Potentially protecting others from sexual abuse
- Knowing that you have confronted your abuser and held them responsible for how they affected your life
- Collecting monetary compensation for the damage they inflicted
Your case could entitle you to compensation for your physical, psychological, and financial suffering. This includes:
- Emotional trauma
- Physical pain and suffering
- Medical bills for the treatment of both physical injuries and mental illness resulting from the abuse
- Loss of wages or earning capacity, if the effects of the abuse make it difficult for you to find or hold down a job
- Loss of consortium, if the effects of the abuse have affected your ability to maintain healthy friendships or relationships
No one knows how abuse has changed your life better than you. We will listen carefully as you share your story and help you determine how much money you deserve.
Defining Clergy Sexual Abuse
Some abuse survivors may not be completely sure if what they suffered is abuse. It is normal to feel this uncertainty, especially if events occurred years ago or others told you that you did not suffer abuse.
The definition of clergy sexual abuse can include many behaviors, including but not limited to:
- Exploiting your feelings of gratitude or closeness (also called transference) to push you into an inappropriate relationship
- Making sexual remarks, either about you specifically or in general
- Making inappropriate, unwanted physical contact, such as touching your shoulder or standing in your personal space
- Asking you to engage in any sexual activity
- Engaging in any sexual activity
Sexual relations between a priest or other adult and a high school student can never be consensual. Even if you “agreed” to participate, the age difference and power imbalance between you means that such a relationship will always be abusive.
As hard as it may be to discuss your sexual abuse, you can always talk to a sexual abuse attorney from Jenner Law to start a lawsuit or confirm that you were sexually abused. We believe our clients’ stories and help them determine what legal steps to take next.
Our Clergy Sexual Abuse Lawyer Is Here for You – Call Us Today for a Free, Private Consultation
We want you to know that the team at Jenner Law understands the sensitive nature of sexual abuse cases and will treat your case with sympathy and complete confidentiality.
If you are a survivor of child sexual abuse at Archbishop Keough High School or by someone on the Archdiocese’s list of accused clergy, contact our office today for a free, no-risk case assessment. We are ready to seek justice and compensation for you.