Following trial, Compass Law Group’s child sexual abuse attorneys secured a $13 million verdict on behalf of a five-year-old survivor of sexual abuse at a California daycare facility. The case was brought against the daycare for negligent supervision — and the verdict ranked among the top twenty in California across all practice areas for the year.
What Made This Child Sexual Abuse Case Unique
Our young client was sexually assaulted at a daycare while in the facility’s care — a setting where parents reasonably expect their child to be supervised, protected, and safe. The facility’s own internal employee manual required a minimum of two certified attendants on site at all times. On the day of the assault, only one attendant was present. That direct violation of the facility’s own written child safety standard — the rule it had set for itself — became the backbone of the case.
Representing a child sexual abuse survivor demands specialized handling. Our personal injury team navigated guardian ad litem procedures, minor’s compromise requirements, and the long-term damages framework that accounts for the lifelong impact of childhood sexual trauma — from PTSD and developmental disruption to ongoing mental-health care that may extend well into adulthood.
Legal Strategy in This Sexual Abuse Lawsuit
We built the case on the daycare’s breach of its duty to protect a young child from foreseeable harm — including sexual abuse and molestation by another person on the premises. Our central arguments included:
- Negligent supervision — the failure to maintain the required staffing levels that exist precisely to prevent abuse, assault, and other foreseeable harm to children.
- Breach of the facility’s own documented child safety policy requiring two certified attendants at all times.
- Vicarious liability for the negligent acts and omissions of the daycare’s employees and agents.
- The heightened duty a childcare provider owes to protect minors in its custody from foreseeable risks of sexual abuse and assault.
Cases involving the sexual abuse of a minor are aggressively defended by corporate insurers who try to minimize what a survivor and their family recover. Here, the defense initially denied responsibility, then offered only $100,000 at mediation and $1 million on the eve of trial — refusing to pay the available $7 million policy. We took the case to verdict. The jury returned $13 million — an amount that opened the policy and held the daycare accountable for nearly twice what it had refused to pay.
Client Outcome
The harm caused by childhood sexual abuse reaches far beyond the assault itself. The case sought recovery for the survivor’s past and future medical and mental-health treatment, the profound emotional and psychological trauma associated with child sexual abuse, and the long-term impact on the child’s development, education, relationships, and future earning capacity. The $13 million verdict reflects the seriousness of that harm and the institutional failure that allowed it to happen.
“When a family entrusts a daycare with their child’s safety, that business takes on one of the most serious duties the law recognizes — the duty to protect a child from abuse. This facility wrote its own safety rules and then ignored them, and a five-year-old paid the price. We held them to the standard they set for themselves, and when they refused to do right by this child, we were prepared to take this child sexual abuse case all the way to a jury. We did, and they were held fully accountable.”
— Joseph Shirazi, Esq., Managing Partner, Compass Law Group, LLP
The Takeaway for Survivors and Families
Businesses that care for children — daycares, schools, camps, after-school programs, and youth organizations — take on one of the most serious duties the law recognizes. When a facility ignores its own safety rules and a child is sexually abused or assaulted as a result, California law allows survivors and their families to hold that institution fully accountable. California has also significantly expanded the time survivors have to file a child sexual abuse claim, which means cases that once felt closed may still be actionable today.
Compass Law Group handles these matters with the sensitivity, confidentiality, and seriousness they deserve. Our Beverly Hills sexual abuse attorneys serve survivors and families across California. Consultations are always free and confidential, and we are available 24/7. No Win, No Fee — you pay nothing unless we recover for you. Contact us today to speak with our team.
