Latest News

Lawsuit Charges USA Swimming Responsible for Sex Abuse of Olympian Ariana Kukors Smith

Published on: May 23, 2018 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

Olympian Ariana Kukors Smith, in a lawsuit filed in California, alleges that her swim coach sexually abused her as a minor, and that the sport’s governing body covered up the abuse. Attorney Robert Allard, representing Kukors Smith, is suing USA Swimming for the abuse she alleges she suffered by her swim coach, Sean Hutchison. Mr. Allard was joined at the press conference to announce the lawsuit by legal team members attorney Ray Mendoza and sex crimes investigator Michael Leininger.

The lawsuit claims USA Swimming manipulated background check procedures as a method of covering up Hutchison’s actions and mishandled the investigation into the allegations against the swim coach.

Kukors Smith is a 2012 Olympian. Mr. Allard stated in a press conference that the goal of the lawsuit was to force USA Swimming to “accept responsibility for allowing, and in fact, enabling a known predator coach to molest for almost a decade sexually, my client Ariana Smith…”

Continue reading →

Palo Alto Unified School District Sexual Misconduct History

Published on: April 18, 2018 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

From Sexual Abuse to Sexual Harassment

Throughout the years, the Palo Alto Unified School District has dealt with a number of sexual misconduct issues. It has also been the target of a formal letter of adverse findings by the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights unit.

In 2013, an explosive report by the student journalists described an alleged “rape culture” at Palo Alto High School.

Continue reading →

USA Swimming Sexual Abuse Resignations

Published on: February 22, 2018 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

It has taken nearly eight years, but the efforts of attorney Robert Allard along with numerous advocates and athletes to rid the sport of swimming of sexual abuse are starting to pay off. With reports that almost 600 USA Swimmers have been sexually abused by coaches and officials, USA Swimming today announced the resignations of two key employees, Club Development Managing Director Pat Hogan and Safe Sport Director Susan Woessner.

Hogan was one of the top leaders in the organization. But he also was part of the culture that enabled the sexual abuse of young athletes to take place over many decades. Hogan married the very swimmer he once coached, proclaiming that she was 18 when he married her. He also provided cover for admitted pedophile and former USA National Team Director Everett Uchiyama. It was Hogan who provided Uchiyama with a glowing job recommendation with a Colorado Springs County Club after Uchiyama secretly resigned over sexual abuse allegations.

ABC’s Brian Ross and 20/20 expose the USA Swimming sexual abuse scandal.

Continue reading →

USA Swimming Sex Abuse Scandal

Published on: February 20, 2018 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

An explosive report from the Orange County Register claims that a culture inside USA Swimming allowed the sexual abuse of 600 young swimmers by more than 250 coaches. Investigative reporter Scott Reid, longtime reporter of Olympic sports and one of the first to document sexual abuse inside USA Gymnastics, reports that “USA Swimming board members and coaches were aware of statutory rape cases that occurred during U.S. national team trips to major international competitions.”

The news article also states that “top USA Swimming executives, board members, top officials, and coaches acknowledge in the documents that they were aware of sexually predatory coaches for years, in some cases even decades, but did not take action against them.”

100s of USA swimmers were sexually abused for decades and the people in charge knew and ignored it, investigation finds

Continue reading →

Create a Neighborhood Safety Map for Halloween

Published on: October 31, 2017 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

Halloween Safety Tips
When you send or take your kids out trick-or-treating tonight, create a safety map of your neighborhood by identifying which homes or apartments have registered sex offenders. There are two useful websites that every parent should appreciate.

Megan’s Law Website

The first place to start is with the Megan’s Law website. It provides information on registered sex offenders, including where they reside. The site is intended as a resource for the community to protect families. However, Megan’s Law only requires the registration of violent sex offenders.

Continue reading →

Holding School Districts Accountable in Sex Abuse Cases

Published on: October 24, 2017 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

Over the years, several school districts enacted “board policies” to bypass the law, which allows child sex abuse victims until the age of 26 to file a lawsuit. The law recognizes that children are sometimes in a better position to file a claim when they reach adulthood. However, many school districts are looking for loopholes to evade responsibility when they fail to protect children from sexual abuse.

Recognizing that school districts were trying to bypass the law, attorney Robert Allard enlisted the help of State Senator Jim Beall. As a result, the state’s Legislative Counsel reiterated that school districts must follow the law and may not adopt policies or procedures to deny child sexual abuse victims a right to justice. The Legislative Counsel is a nonpartisan public agency that drafts legislative proposals, prepares legal opinions, and provides other confidential legal services to the Legislature and others.

The legislative intent of the law, CCP § 340.1, provides that child sex abuse victims are exempt from the so-called government claims act. The act states that one must first give written notice within six months of the injury or discovery of the damage before filing an actual lawsuit in a California superior court, giving the governmental agency time to settle the claim. School districts were trying to use this law to override CCP § 340.1. But the Legislative Counsel is firm in stating that school districts “may not adopt a claim presentation procedure with respect to claims for damages suffered as a result of childhood sexual abuse.”

Continue reading →

Educator Sexual Abuse

Published on: October 13, 2017 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

The Need for Mandatory Predator Identification Training

Educator sexual abuse is a problem that could be alleviated with prevention training. Currently, the law requires school employees to receive child abuse training within the first six weeks of each school year. Educators may satisfy their training requirements at www.mandatedreporterca.com. However, the training portal fails to address the prevention of educator child sexual abuse by neglecting to provide training to identify the grooming of children.

Although the law is a good first step, much more needs to be done to prevent the type of child sexual abuse seen in both the Morgan Hill Unified School District and the Evergreen Unified School District.

Continue reading →

Sexual Abuse Charges Filed Against Dartmouth Middle School Music Teacher Samuel Neipp

Published on: October 12, 2017 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

San Jose Dartmouth Middle School teacher Samuel Neipp is facing numerous sexual abuse charges following his arrest. Allegations include using his position of authority to molest at least two students and of the blackmail of one of the students. He allegedly threatened to post nude photographs of the 13-year-old girl unless she kept the sexual abuse a secret.

Samuel Neipp allegedly molested the two girls over a number of years starting when they were both 13. One of the victims is now 16. The other victim is 20. She alleges that the abuse by Samuel Neipp lasted for about two years.

Educator Sexual Misconduct

Continue reading →

Protecting Sexually Abused Kids from Revictimization

Published on: September 20, 2017 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

The California legislature has adjourned for the 2017 year, taking action on a critical bill affecting child sexual abuse victims. New legislation sets time limits on psychological examinations or “psyche exams” on child sex abuse victims in civil lawsuits. Currently, there are no time limits. The law also mandates that a licensed therapist with experience in child abuse and trauma conduct the exam.

Attorney Robert Allard and the Cerri, Boskovich & Allard legal team, which represents child molestation victims, lobbied for the legislation after witnessing the revictimization of sexually abused children in civil cases by a defendant’s paid expert.

As an example, Mr. Allard provided details of a psychological examination that crossed the line and re-traumatized children. The civil lawsuit was against a San Jose daycare center. Three little girls between the ages of 5 and seven were sexually molested by Keith Woodhouse while attending a San Jose daycare. During the police investigation, Woodhouse admitted the crime. These girls had to relate the details of their molestation to investigating police officers, the District Attorney, the court and to the defendants in their civil lawsuit during their videotaped depositions. Even with all the recorded testimony available, the defendants moved to compel an examination of each girl by both a psychologist and psychiatrist for more than four hours. During the examination, the psychiatrist went into great depth into the details of the abuse causing each of these little girls severe emotional distress.

Continue reading →

Charter School Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Settles for $1.2 Million

Published on: September 15, 2017 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

As students head back to school, the San Jose law firm of Cerri, Boskovich & Allard is reminding parents about the dangers of sexual abuse by educators. back-to-school The firm is announcing a $1.2 million settlement in a sexual abuse lawsuit filed against a San Jose charter school.

The case involved a high school teacher who sexually abused one of his students and a principal who was directly and expressly notified about the illegal relationship but did not notify the authorities as required by law, instead choosing to investigate himself.

The California mandatory reporting law mandates that an educator report to the authorities any time he or she entertains a reasonable suspicion of sexual abuse. That was not done here. Instead, it took a complaint from a concerned parent to trigger involvement by the police which promptly resulted in an arrest.

Continue reading →