Sexual Abuse in a Nursing Home in Houston, TX
We trust institutions like schools, hospitals, churches, and nursing homes to treat those who walk through their doors with respect, dignity, and decency. When that trust is violated through horrific acts like sexual assault against the most vulnerable people, the impact can be devastating.
Do you suspect that your loved one has been the target of sexual abuse in their Houston-area nursing facility? If so, your loved one deserves justice and accountability, and your family needs skilled legal advocacy to help you pursue that. Contact Fibich, Leebron, Copeland & Briggs immediately for a case review with a nursing home sexual abuse lawyer in Houston. Consultations are free and confidential, so you can get the answers you need in a compassionate, no-pressure setting.
Types of Nursing Home Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse of a nursing home resident can take various forms. Common examples of sexual assault include:
- Unwanted sexual contact, including touching a resident’s intimate areas or forcing a resident to touch another individual’s intimate areas
- Non-consensual sexual intercourse
- Exposing a resident’s body or exposing an individual’s body to a resident
- Unwanted sexual advances
- Making sexual remarks to a resident
- Unwanted sexual conversations
- Forcing residents to engage in sexual activity with one another
Understanding the Signs and Symptoms of Nursing Home Sexual Abuse
Some nursing home residents lack the physical or cognitive capacity to report when they have suffered sexual assault or abuse. As a result, family members of residents who have experienced sexual abuse must recognize the signs of assault, which can include:
- Physical injuries, including bruises and lacerations (especially around intimate areas)
- Bleeding or swelling around the genital areas
- New sexually transmitted infections
- Unwillingness to let others touch or assist with bathing or dressing
- Becoming withdrawn
- Loss of interest in activities or socializing
- Severe depression or anxiety
- Reluctance to speak in the presence of specific individuals
- Fear of being left alone
- Torn or stained clothing or bedding
Sudden changes in a nursing home resident’s behavior should alert family members to the possibility that their loved one has experienced a traumatic event and to investigate whether their loved one has suffered any physical or emotional abuse.
What Can I Do to Help My Loved One?
After you discover that your loved one has suffered sexual abuse in their nursing home, you can pursue legal action against the party or parties responsible for the abuse and the harm your loved one has endured. Parties your family might hold responsible for your loved one’s sexual assault or physical abuse include a staff member, a contractor working in the nursing home, a fellow resident, or a visitor who committed the assault. The nursing home may also bear liability for a sexual assault, either through employer liability for an assault committed by a staff member, or through direct liability in allowing the assault to occur through negligent security or oversight.
Your family can help your loved one obtain justice by taking concrete steps to help pursue a legal claim against those responsible for your loved one’s nursing home abuse. These steps can include:
- Reporting the assault to the nursing home’s management and to law enforcement authorities
- Removing your loved one from the nursing home if they remain in danger of future assaults
- Seeking prompt medical attention for your loved one
- Collecting copies of medical records of your loved one’s treatment for injuries, diseases, or mental trauma
- Keeping records of treatment and rehabilitation expenses
- Calling a Houston nursing home abuse lawyer with experience handling sexual assault claims
Damages Available in Nursing Home Sexual Abuse Claims
Elderly residents who suffer sexual abuse in Texas nursing homes may have the right to pursue financial compensation from those responsible for inflicting or permitting the abuse. Types of compensation provided in average settlements for sexual abuse in nursing homes include:
- Costs of medical treatment and rehabilitation for injuries caused by sexual assault
- Costs of moving to a new nursing home facility
- Physical pain and anguish
- Emotional harm and distress
- Reduced quality of life
Statute of Limitations for Nursing Home Sexual Assault Cases
Under Texas’s statute of limitations for injury claims, a nursing home resident who has suffered sexual abuse typically has two years from the date of an assault to file a lawsuit against their abuser and other liable parties. However, when a family discovers that a loved one in a nursing home has experienced sexual abuse, they should act quickly to pursue their loved one’s legal rights, since filing a claim late could result in losing the opportunity to hold those responsible for a nursing home resident’s sexual abuse accountable.
Why Choose Fibich, Leebron, Copeland & Briggs?
If your family needs knowledgeable legal counsel to pursue legal claims on behalf of a loved one who has experienced sexual abuse in a nursing home in Houston, the legal team at Fibich, Leebron, Copeland & Briggs can provide compassionate counsel and advocacy to you and your loved one. Since 1992, our firm has worked tirelessly to provide legal representation to those in Houston and throughout Texas who have suffered harm due to others’ actions. We have a proven track record of results in injury cases, both at the negotiating table and in the courtroom. When you choose our firm to help your family seek justice for a loved one who has experienced sexual abuse in a nursing home, you can expect our legal team to:
- Provide direct, easy-to-understand guidance on your loved one’s rights and options
- Communicate with you regularly throughout the case
- Fight as hard as possible to maximize your loved one’s recovery
- Diligently represent your family with no attorney fees owed unless we obtain compensation for you
Get in Touch with an Experienced Nursing Home Sexual Abuse Lawyer
When your family has a loved one living in a nursing home in Texas who has suffered sexual abuse from a staff member, a fellow resident, or another individual, your family deserves to seek justice and to obtain the financial resources your loved one needs to recover. Contact Fibich, Leebron, Copeland & Briggs today for a confidential, free consultation with a nursing home sexual abuse lawyer to discuss how to hold the abuser accountable for the harm your loved one has suffered.