Many times these crimes can not be brought forward to law enforcement because the abuse happened decades ago.  I investigate these types of cases almost every single day. Sexual abuse of a child is like a stone you throw in a pond, the ripple affects are not something that can ever be measured, the damage can never be undone. If you know someone who has been abused or is being abused help them get help.  Don't be part of the problem be part of the solution!

Today my topic is about victories: they can be personal victories, professional victories, legal victories and sometimes they are all wrapped up together with a big red bow. All victories are good but the ones with a big red bow are best!  Everyone has a different idea of what a victory is, the attorneys I work for may not look at the successes we achieve the same way I do but we all agree on one thing something positive for the victims we represent is always an important victory.

I know this is a long lead-in but yesterday was a particularly good day for one of my sex abuse cases.  Many of my cases the abuse occurred while the victim was involved in an organization, like the boy scouts, a church, a school or a sporting organization.  When an institution is involved their is a strong possibility that they knew about the perpetrator and did nothing about the problem. Which is where I come into the picture. As an investigator I go around looking for witnesses or some kind of tangible evidence to show "prior knowledge." Once I get the proof it is another thing to convince the witness to hand over his/her evidence or to go public with the information. Often times this takes some convincing, I can be very convincing!

Today in one of my cases we finally obtained a very important deposition documenting notice to a church. In this case it proved "prior knowledge." This witness establishes the fact, that the church knew they had a problem with a known perpetrator. They knew many years before the victim I am helping was abused. This evidence just increased the value of the client's case, it gave this client validation and It gave the attorney what he needs to proceed to trial. Their are still other legal hurtles to overcome but this was a big start. In my opinion this is a very successful day in a case that is very important to me, so that makes this a big victory all wrapped up with a big red bow.

The free dictionary site  defines sex abuse as the following -

 Sexual Abuse 

Archdiocese Apologizes For Priest's Sexual Abuses

Oct 11, 2000 | AP

Twenty-two men who say they were abused by a priest when they were boys have settled an estimated $44 million lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland, and the church apologized to the men yesterday.

The allegations against the Rev. Maurice Grammond, 80, made it the largest known case of clergy abuse in Oregon and among the top in the nation.

The plaintiffs, former altar boys, charged that between 1950 and 1974 Grammond enticed them to engage in sexual acts.

Grammond is a patient at an Alzheimer's care facility in a Portland suburb.

Announcement of the settlement – and the archdiocese's apology – were made at the Multnomah County Courthouse in Portland. A state judge and a federal judge acted as mediators to try to keep the case from going into a lengthy and expensive trial.

"This settlement ends half a century of fear, secrecy, silence and shame that protected Father Grammond," plaintiffs' lawyer David Slader said.

The apology, which is to be read in all 120 churches in the archdiocese, was part of the settlement. In it, Archbishop John Vlazny concedes that "some of the priests" of the archdiocese "have sexually molested children who were entrusted to the care of the church."

"To any person who has suffered from abuse by any personnel of the Archdiocese of Portland and to their families, I express my deep regret and ask for pardon and forgiveness," said the written statement.

Over more than three decades, Grammond served at a home for troubled and abused boys in Portland, and parishes in Seaside and Oakridge, Ore. Most of the alleged victims had been altar boys in Seaside, where Grammond spent 20 years before his retirement in 1985.

The plaintiffs kept quiet about the alleged abuse for two decades and more, not wanting to confront what had happened to them when they were boys, said their lawyer.

Most live in Oregon and range in age from 39 to 61. The oldest is a former resident of the boys home in Portland. Another is a homeless man in Hawaii.

The first lawsuit was filed last year by Joe Elliott, who grew up in Seaside and now lives in Portland. After that, more alleged victims of Grammond stepped forward.

Doug Ray, now a city councilman in Seaside, has said that from the third or fourth grade until he was a freshman in high school, Grammond subjected him to increasing sexual abuse "as bad as one can imagine, and worse."