Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Suit against child molester

I should begin by saying that I'm sorry you [or anyone] had to endure this type of abuse. The law can punish abusers, but it can't undo the harm that they inflict on others.

In reply to your specific questions, I have a few of my own. What leads you to believe you have six months before the statute of limitations runs? [I'm not saying that you're wrong -- I don't know enough about the specifics to make this call -- but a typical non-lawyer doesn't know how long various statutes run.] Did the abuse occur in California? How did you get written confessions from the perpetrator? How old were you at the time of the abuse?

Suing the perpetrator is still possible even though he is out of state, although you will need to find him and serve him with process. You will first need to draft a complaint and draw up a summons. There are a variety of ways to serve the defendant, but the easiest (not necessarily the best in all cases, perhaps including yours) way to serve an out-of-state defendant in a California lawsuit is to mail the summons and complaint to him and obtain a return receipt from the post office. Service will be effective ten days after mailing, provided you actually receive the receipt.

You really should have a lawyer for a case like this. Doing it by yourself is likely to lead to oversights and errors which can cripple your suit. If your time is as short as you say, then you should get a lawyer as quickly as possible.

You can only sue his wife if she participated in the abuse against you. However, if you have evidence that she has engaged in or been an accomplice to illegal activities, you may be able to help get a criminal prosecution going against her.

Please feel free to contact me directly if you like, and good luck!

Clarification re: spouse of abuser

I think a clarification of my first reply is in order.

In my earlier reply, I wrote: "You can only sue his wife if she participated in the abuse against you." As I look at that sentence now, I see that it is not terribly clear. Even if the wife aided in your abuse without participating directly (e.g., by arranging for you and her husband to be alone together with knowledge that he intended to harm you) she can be held accountable. However, my impression from your letter was that she married him after you were abused and has only been helping him since then. If that is the case, then her actions did not harm you and you would lack "standing" to sue for the harm she helped bring to others.

I hope this clarifies any misunderstanding my earlier post might have created.