A California sex abuse lawyer helps survivors bring a civil lawsuit for money damages against the person who caused the harm and, often, against an institution that failed to prevent it. A civil claim does not depend on any criminal case. Whether one is still possible depends mainly on when the abuse happened and who the defendant is.
Many survivors arrive at this question years after the abuse, unsure whether anything can still be done. Justice for Survivors is a California law firm that handles civil claims for sexual abuse and sexual assault, with a particular focus on childhood abuse and abuse inside institutions such as schools, religious organizations, youth programs, foster care and healthcare settings. This page explains how those claims work in California and what a first conversation with the firm involves.
What a California Civil Sexual Abuse Claim Actually Is
A civil claim is a lawsuit a survivor brings in their own name, seeking compensation from those responsible. A criminal case is brought by the government, through a District Attorney, to punish an offender. The two are separate. A survivor can file a civil lawsuit whether or not the abuser was ever reported, arrested, charged or convicted, and a prosecutor's decision not to file charges does not decide the civil case. The differences are set out in more detail in our guide to civil vs. criminal sexual abuse cases.
The standard of proof is also different. A criminal conviction requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt. A civil claim is decided on a "preponderance of the evidence," which in plain English means showing that something is more likely true than not.
Civil pathways exist across many situations: abuse that happened in childhood or in adulthood, and abuse by clergy, physicians, coaches, teachers, foster caregivers, employers or others in a position of trust. A civil defendant can be the individual who caused the harm, and it can also be an organization that knew, or should have known, of the risk and did not act.
California's Statutes of Limitations for Sexual Abuse Claims
A statute of limitations is the deadline for filing a lawsuit. In California, the deadline for a sexual abuse claim depends first on whether the survivor was a child or an adult at the time, and then on the date the abuse occurred. Our detailed page on the California sexual abuse statute of limitations walks through each rule.
Abuse that happened before age 18. Childhood sexual abuse claims are governed by California Code of Civil Procedure § 340.1. The current text says there is no time limit for these actions, but that rule applies only to abuse occurring on or after January 1, 2024. It did not revive older claims that had already expired.
For abuse that occurred on or before December 31, 2023, the deadline is the one the law set as of that date, which comes from AB 218 (2019). Under that rule, a survivor generally may file until age 40, or within five years of discovering (or when they reasonably should have discovered) that a psychological injury in adulthood was caused by the abuse, whichever is later.
That second option is the "delayed discovery rule." In plain terms, the clock can start when a survivor first understands the connection between the abuse and the harm it caused, rather than on the date of the abuse itself. That connection is often made late, and the law treats that as normal.
AB 218 also opened a three-year revival window, from January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2022, for childhood claims that had already expired. That window has closed. Cases filed during it may still be in progress, but new claims can no longer be filed under it.
A survivor who is 40 or older when a childhood claim is filed must file "certificates of merit": short statements by the attorney and by a licensed mental health practitioner, not the survivor's own therapist, confirming that there is a reasonable basis for the case. This is a filing step handled by counsel.
Abuse or assault that happened in adulthood. The general deadline for personal injury, including assault and battery, is two years under Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1. California has longer, sexual-assault-specific deadlines for adult survivors, and it has also reopened some expired adult claims:
- A revival window enacted by AB 2777 (2022), open through December 31, 2026, for otherwise time-barred claims based on sexual assault occurring on or after January 1, 2009. It does not apply to a claim already litigated to a final result, or to a claim settled in writing before January 1, 2023.
- A separate, narrower window open from January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2027, with its own conditions. Unlike the first window, this one cannot be used against a public entity.
Older windows that applied only to claims involving particular university physicians closed in 2020 and 2021 and are no longer available.
Who Can Be Named as a Defendant: Individuals and Institutions
The individual who caused the harm can be sued directly, regardless of whether there was a criminal prosecution. In many California cases, though, the central defendant is an institution. Section 340.1 expressly allows claims against any person or entity that owed the survivor a duty of care where a wrongful or negligent act by that entity was a legal cause of the abuse.
Several theories of institutional liability come up repeatedly:
- Negligent hiring: bringing someone into a role with access to children or vulnerable people without reasonable screening.
- Negligent supervision: failing to reasonably oversee an employee or volunteer, or the setting itself, when the risk was known or should have been.
- Negligent retention: keeping someone in that role after warning signs appeared.
- Respondeat superior: a Latin phrase meaning an employer can be responsible for an employee's conduct within the scope of the job. In abuse cases courts often treat this theory narrowly, which is why the negligence theories above usually carry the most weight.
The kinds of institutions involved include public and private schools, churches and dioceses, youth sports and youth-serving nonprofits, foster care agencies, hospitals and medical practices, and employers. Our guide to institutional sexual abuse covers these in more depth, and school-specific rules are covered in the guide to school sexual abuse.
Public entities. Claims against public school districts, counties and other government bodies follow special rules. The Government Claims Act, beginning at Government Code § 905, generally requires a written claim to be presented to a local public entity, on a short deadline, before suit. Childhood sexual abuse claims are an exception. Section 905(m) exempts claims under § 340.1 from that requirement, and the change applies retroactively, so the exemption does not depend on when the abuse occurred. A local entity cannot substitute its own claim procedure.
The State of California is treated differently from local entities. For a state defendant, the presentation exemption reaches only abuse on or after January 1, 2024. Where it is unclear whether a defendant is a local entity or a part of the State, establishing that is the first step. For adult survivors, public-entity rules differ from window to window, and they are reviewed individually.