North Carolina Teen Sexual Abuse Lawyers

If you were sexually abused as a teenager by someone from school, church, camp, or another institution, you don’t have to bear that pain in silence. You have powerful legal means at your disposal that can help you hold the institutions that perpetrated or enabled your abuse accountable and obtain financial compensation to help you overcome the hardships you have faced.

At Rhine Law Firm, we are passionate advocates for victims of sexual abuse in Wilmington, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham and all throughout North Carolina. The experienced North Carolina teen sexual abuse lawyers at our firm are here to listen to your story, help you understand your rights and options, and give you the power to hold those institutions accountable for the damages they’ve caused.  We know the lasting pain this abuse can cause.

Teenage Sexual Abuse Changes Lives

The experiences we have as teenagers create the foundation of our emotional lives as adults. An act of sexual abuse can cause severe and lasting damage to a victim’s mental and emotional wellbeing. The damage of teenage sexual abuse can take numerous forms, including:

• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)—reliving the event over and over in one’s mind
• Fear of intimacy and the inability to form close romantic bonds
• Sexual disfunction
• Alcohol and drug abuse
• Eating disorders
• Promiscuity and risky sexual behavior

An experienced and compassionate sex abuse attorney can assess all of the ways a single traumatic event or pattern of abuse affected your life. Then, your attorney will go to work to build a strong case so you can pursue compensation for psychiatric treatment, lost opportunities, emotional trauma, and other damages you have suffered.

Remember, this is not your fault. Together, we can fight back to get you justice and compensation for the harm you have suffered and may continue to suffer because of their actions.

Fight Back Against the Institutions that Harmed You

Schools, churches, youth groups, camps—these are institutions teens and their parents turn to for trusted guidance and they expect these places to be safe. It is a stunning betrayal when these same institutions negligently allow sexual predators onto their payrolls or, worse, are aware of what’s happening and turn a blind eye to sexual misconduct when it occurs.

In handling teenage sexual abuse claims, our mission is twofold.

• First, we seek to help our client obtain the compensation they are entitled to for the hardships they have suffered due to teenage sexual abuse.
• Second, we seek to hold these institutions accountable and force them to adopt meaningful changes so that it doesn’t happen again.

Unfortunately, if it has happened once, it’s likely that it has happened several times, and to other victims, too. By holding institutions accountable and exposing their misdeeds, we can help to stop the cycle and prevent children and teenagers from suffering the same horrible fate.

The Law Is on Your Side, but Time Limits Apply

In North Carolina, the 2019 Safe Child Act made it easier for victims of teenage sexual abuse to file civil claims against the people and institutions that perpetrated and enabled their abuse. The law included a number of provisions that benefit survivors of teen sexual abuse, including:

• Increasing the statute of limitations for both criminal and civil cases involving allegations of childhood sexual abuse
• Broadening the definition of abuse

Even though the statute of limitations is longer, a delay can still strip you of your legal standing. Survivors who were abused while under the age of 18 have until their 28^th birthday to file a civil claim. Prosecutors have 10 years to bring criminal actions against felony and misdemeanor offenders. 

Sexual Abuse Takes Many Forms

Many offenses can give rise to a teen sexual abuse claim, including molestation, statutory rape, and online abuse and exploitation. Remember, your abuser need not have been prosecuted or arrested in order for you to file a civil claim against them or the institution they were a part of. Your civil claim can exist independent of the state or federal criminal justice system.

Whether you are an adult who suffered sexual abuse as a teenager, a teenager who is currently suffering sexual abuse, or a parent or other loved one acting on behalf of another, we are here to help you understand the law and how it applies in your unique situation.

Talk With a Legal Ally You Can Trust

You don’t have to face this difficult legal issue alone. When you are ready to discuss your potential claim with one of our experienced, trauma-informed North Carolina teen sexual abuse lawyers, let us know by filling out a brief and confidential contact form or calling us at 910-772-9960.