Private School Sexual Abuse Claims in California: What Survivors Need to Know

Yes. In California, a survivor of sexual abuse at a private school may be able to bring a civil claim against the person who committed the abuse and against the school itself, if the school's own failures in hiring, supervising or responding to warning signs helped make the abuse possible. The filing deadline depends on when the abuse happened.

What a Private School Sexual Abuse Claim Is Under California Law

A civil claim is a lawsuit brought by the survivor (or by a parent on a child's behalf) that asks a court to award money for the harm caused. It is separate from a criminal case, which the government brings and which can lead to a prison sentence. The two run independently. A civil claim can go forward whether or not anyone was charged, convicted or even reported, and the differences are covered in more depth in our explainer on civil versus criminal cases.

The person who committed the abuse is one possible defendant. The school is often another. California law allows a claim against an institution that owed the child a duty of care when its own wrongful or negligent conduct was a legal cause of the abuse. Three theories come up most often:

• Negligent hiring: the school brought someone onto campus without reasonable screening, when screening would have revealed a risk.
• Negligent supervision: the school failed to reasonably oversee an employee, volunteer or contractor, or the settings where that person had access to students.
• Negligent retention: the school kept someone in a position of access after it knew, or reasonably should have known, that the person posed a danger.

These principles apply to private K-12 schools generally, including schools with a religious affiliation. Religiously affiliated defendants sometimes raise constitutional defenses, and that area of law continues to develop. Religious affiliation is not, in itself, a reason a claim cannot be brought. How any defense might apply depends on the specific school and the specific facts. Public schools follow a separate set of procedural rules, covered in our guide to school sexual abuse claims.

How California Law Holds Private Schools Accountable

The starting point is a single sentence in California's Civil Code. Cal. Civ. Code § 1714(a) provides: "Everyone is responsible, not only for the result of his or her willful acts, but also for an injury occasioned to another by his or her want of ordinary care or skill in the management of his or her property or person." Applied to a school, "ordinary care" describes what a reasonable school would do to keep children safe.

In practice, courts look at whether the school took reasonable steps in areas such as:

• Background checks and reference checks before hiring staff or admitting volunteers.
• Supervision policies, including rules about adults being alone with students.
• How the school received, investigated and responded to complaints or concerns.

Much of this turns on the phrase "knew or should have known." It means a school can be responsible not only for what administrators actually knew, but for what a reasonable school would have learned from the information in front of it. Prior complaints, earlier incident reports, warnings from parents or staff, a pattern of boundary-crossing behavior, or a quiet transfer of a staff member after concerns arose can all bear on that question.

Mandated reporting under CANRA

California's Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, known as CANRA (Cal. Penal Code § 11165 and following sections), requires certain professionals to report suspected child abuse. For purposes of the Act, Section 11165 defines "child" as "a person under the age of 18 years." Teachers and other private school employees who work with children are among the people the law treats as mandated reporters. When school staff had reason to suspect abuse and did not report it, that failure can be evidence that the school did not act with reasonable care. It is not automatic liability; it is one fact among others that a court weighs.

Direct negligence and vicarious liability

Direct negligence is the school's own failure: a poor hiring decision, absent supervision, an ignored complaint. Vicarious liability is responsibility for someone else's act because of the relationship, such as employer and employee. Because sexual abuse is generally not treated as within the scope of employment, most claims against private schools focus on direct negligence.

Title IX and California law

Title IX, the federal law against sex discrimination in education, applies to schools that receive federal funding. Many private schools do not, and for those schools Title IX does not apply. California's Unruh Civil Rights Act and certain Education Code provisions may still be relevant depending on the school and the facts.

Deadlines for Filing: AB 218 and California's Extended Statute of Limitations

A statute of limitations is the deadline for filing a lawsuit. For childhood sexual abuse, the governing law is Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 340.1. Which deadline applies depends on when the abuse happened.

Abuse on or after January 1, 2024. Section 340.1(a) now reads: "There is no time limit for the commencement of any of the following actions for recovery of damages suffered as a result of childhood sexual assault." That covers claims against the person who committed the abuse and against a person or entity, such as a school, whose wrongful, negligent or intentional act was a legal cause of it. The statute limits this no-time-limit rule to abuse occurring on and after January 1, 2024.

Abuse on or before December 31, 2023. These claims are governed by the law as it read on December 31, 2023, which is the rule created by AB 218. AB 218 was signed in 2019 and took effect January 1, 2020. Under it, a survivor generally may file until age 40, or within five years of discovering that a psychological injury or illness occurring after age 18 was caused by the abuse, whichever is later. The 2024 change did not revive any claim that had already expired.

The five-year part of that rule reflects the discovery rule (the law counts the clock from when a survivor connects the harm to the abuse, not only from when the abuse happened).

The AB 218 revival window has closed. AB 218 also opened a three-year window, which ran through December 31, 2022, for childhood claims that had already expired. That window is no longer open. The age-40 and five-year rule still applies to abuse on or before December 31, 2023.

Abuse that happened after age 18 is governed by a different statute; our article on the California statute of limitations covers those rules.

What Survivors Can Recover in a Civil Claim

In a California childhood sexual abuse case against a private school, damages generally fall into three groups.

Economic damages are measurable financial losses: past and future therapy and medical costs, and lost earnings or reduced ability to earn over a lifetime.

Non-economic damages compensate for harm that has no receipt attached: pain and suffering, emotional distress and loss of enjoyment of life. California does not place a general cap on non-economic damages in these cases.

Punitive damages are meant to punish rather than compensate. Under Cal. Civ. Code § 3294, they require proof by "clear and convincing evidence that the defendant has been guilty of oppression, fraud, or malice." In plain terms, the conduct must go beyond carelessness to something deliberate or despicable done with conscious disregard for others' safety. For an employer, the statute generally requires that an officer, director or managing agent had advance knowledge and acted with conscious disregard, authorized or ratified the conduct, or was personally guilty of oppression, fraud or malice.

Treble damages for a cover up. Section 340.1(b)(1) provides that a survivor who proves the assault "was as the result of a cover up may recover up to treble damages against a defendant who is found to have covered up the sexual assault of a minor, unless prohibited by another law." Treble means up to three times the damages awarded. The statute defines a cover up as "a concerted effort to hide evidence relating to childhood sexual assault."

Every case is different, and no amount can be predicted in advance. A civil judgment or settlement does not depend on a criminal conviction.

The Litigation Process: What a Private School Abuse Case Typically Involves

Initial review. An attorney typically looks at the dates involved, the school's identity and status, and what records are likely to exist, such as personnel files, employment and background check records, and any prior complaints. Under Section 340.1(e), a plaintiff who is 40 or older when the case is filed must file certificates of merit, meaning written declarations from the attorney and from a licensed mental health practitioner who is not the survivor's treating provider. That requirement is handled by the attorney as part of preparing the case.

Filing and service. The case begins with a complaint, the document that states the claims, filed in California superior court. The school is then formally served. Many survivors file using a pseudonym such as Jane Doe or John Doe; our article on confidentiality in abuse claims explains how that works. The California Courts self-help resources describe civil procedure generally.

Discovery. This is the stage where each side obtains information from the other. It includes document requests, interrogatories (written questions answered under oath) and depositions (recorded interviews under oath). Discovery is usually where a school's internal records come to light, including what it knew and when.

Mediation and settlement. Many cases resolve before trial, often through mediation, a confidential negotiation led by a neutral third party.

Trial. If a case does not resolve, a judge or jury decides liability and damages.

Cases often take one to several years, depending on complexity and on whether the school contests responsibility.

Evidence and Records in Private School Abuse Cases

Most of the important evidence in these cases is held by the school, and attorneys obtain it through discovery.

The kinds of evidence that typically matter include:

• School employment records, background check records and personnel files.
• Prior complaints and incident reports showing what the school knew about earlier misconduct.
• Medical and therapy records documenting the survivor's injuries.
• Communications between the survivor, parents and school administrators, such as emails, letters and text messages.
• Police reports or criminal investigation records, if a report was made.
• Statements from other students, staff or parents.

Any documents a survivor or family already has are worth keeping as they are. Having none does not prevent a claim.

Reporting Abuse and Accessing Support Resources

Child protective services. Suspected abuse of a child can be reported to the county child welfare agency. The California Department of Social Services lists county reporting contacts. The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline is available at 1-800-422-4453.

Law enforcement. A report can be made to local police or the sheriff. California's criminal deadlines are separate from civil ones. Under Cal. Penal Code § 801.1, prosecution for certain felony sex offenses against minors may be brought any time before the victim's 40th birthday, for offenses committed on or after January 1, 2015 or not already time-barred by then. The California Attorney General also publishes information on child abuse reporting.

Support. The RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline is available at 1-800-656-4673, with online chat at rainn.org. These services are confidential and do not involve any legal process.

If You Have Questions, Privately

If you or your child experienced sexual abuse connected to a private school in California, you may have the right to pursue a civil claim against the individual and against the school. Through that claim, the law allows a survivor to seek compensation for emotional harm, the cost of therapy and medical care, lost income and earning capacity, and other damages the law permits, along with the acknowledgment and justice a civil case can provide. California has extended its deadlines more than once, so options may exist even when the abuse happened many years ago.

This article is not asking you to decide anything, and it is not a substitute for a private conversation with an attorney. A confidential case review with Justice for Survivors looks at the questions that determine whether a claim is open: the dates involved, which deadline applies, whether the school can be named, and what privacy protections are available. It is free and carries no obligation. Nothing needs to be organized first, and no one has to describe what happened in order to ask. A question can come by phone or through the website, whichever feels safest.

To speak confidentially with an attorney at Justice for Survivors about California private school abuse claims, call (866) 694-1630.