Survivors of sexual abuse or assault in Pasadena may be able to bring a civil lawsuit for money damages against the person who harmed them and, often, against an institution that failed to protect them. These cases are filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, and California's filing deadlines depend on when the abuse happened.
For anyone in or near Pasadena wondering whether a civil claim is still possible, this page explains how these cases work, which deadlines apply, who can be held responsible and where support is available. Justice for Survivors is a California law firm that handles civil claims for survivors of sexual abuse and sexual assault in Pasadena, Altadena and the wider San Gabriel Valley. Nothing here requires you to describe what happened to you.
What a Civil Sexual Abuse Claim Is, and How It Differs from a Criminal Case
A civil claim is a lawsuit the survivor brings, not the government. The survivor is the plaintiff. The person or organization being sued is the defendant. The survivor decides whether to file, whether to settle, and whether to keep going.
A criminal case is brought by a prosecutor on behalf of the state, and its goal is punishment. A civil case seeks damages, meaning money compensation for harm, such as emotional distress, the cost of therapy and medical care, and lost income.
A civil claim can go forward even if no one called the police, if charges were never filed or were dropped, or if the accused was acquitted. It can also name an organization that hired, supervised or gave the abuser access to the survivor, such as a school, church, employer or youth organization. A fuller comparison appears in our guide to civil vs. criminal sexual abuse cases.
California's Statutes of Limitations for Sexual Abuse Civil Claims
A statute of limitations is the deadline for filing a lawsuit. The rule that applies depends mainly on whether the survivor was a child or an adult, and when the abuse occurred.
Childhood sexual abuse (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 340.1). For abuse that occurred on or after January 1, 2024, there is no time limit to sue the person who committed it, or an organization whose negligent or intentional conduct was a legal cause of it. For abuse that occurred on or before December 31, 2023, the earlier rule from AB 218 (2019) applies: the survivor generally has until age 40, or five years from discovering that a psychological injury was caused by the abuse, whichever is later. AB 218 also opened a three-year revival window for older claims, and that window closed on December 31, 2022. The 2024 change did not revive claims that had already expired.
Section 340.1 also addresses cover-ups. A survivor who proves the assault resulted from a cover-up, defined as "a concerted effort to hide evidence relating to childhood sexual assault," may recover up to treble (three times) damages against a defendant found to have covered it up, unless another law prohibits it.
Adult sexual assault (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 340.16). For assault that occurred at age 18 or older, the deadline is the later of 10 years from the last act, or three years from when the survivor discovered or reasonably should have discovered that an injury or illness resulted from it.
The window open through 2026. AB 2777 (2022), the Sexual Abuse and Cover Up Accountability Act, added a revival window to section 340.16. It covers adult assault that occurred on or after January 1, 2009, where the claim would otherwise be barred only because the deadline passed. Those claims may be filed until December 31, 2026. The window does not revive a claim litigated to finality before January 1, 2023, or one settled in a written agreement before that date. A separate, narrower revival window also runs from January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2027; it does not apply to public entities.
Because of these changes, a claim that seems too late may still be possible.
Who Can Be Held Liable in a Pasadena Sexual Abuse Civil Case
The individual who committed the abuse can always be named. Many cases also include an organization that owed a duty of care: a legal obligation to act reasonably to protect those in its charge, especially children.
Such institutions include schools, religious organizations, youth programs, medical providers, employers, and foster care and group home operators. Common theories include:
- Negligent hiring: bringing someone on without reasonable screening.
- Negligent supervision: failing to monitor a person or setting where abuse was a foreseeable risk.
- Negligent retention: keeping someone in a position of trust after warning signs or complaints.
- Failure to report: California's mandated reporter law, Cal. Pen. Code § 11166, requires teachers, clergy, coaches, medical staff and others to report a reasonable suspicion of child abuse "immediately or as soon as is practicably possible." An institution's failure to act on that duty can be evidence of negligence.
Naming a type of institution here is not a suggestion that any particular organization is involved in any claim.
Public entities follow separate rules
Public school districts, cities and counties are public entities. Ordinarily, a claim against one must first be presented to the entity under the Government Claims Act, which begins at Cal. Gov. Code § 910 and requires a claim to state, among other things, the date, place and circumstances of the occurrence. That deadline is far shorter than ordinary statutes of limitations.
Childhood sexual abuse claims are different. California law exempts claims under section 340.1 from claim presentation against local public entities, such as a school district, city or county, regardless of when the abuse occurred, and a local entity cannot substitute its own claim procedure. Claims against the State of California follow a different statute; there, the exemption reaches only abuse on or after January 1, 2024.
For adult assault claims against public entities, the claim-presentation requirement may still apply. How the 2026 window interacts with public-entity defendants is not settled, and this page does not answer it.