In November 2011, Jerry Sandusky, former football coach for Pennsylvania State University, was indicted for alleged child sexual abuse. There are claims that several members of the Penn State University football staff, from the university president down to a graduate assistant coach, covered up the alleged child sexual abuse by Sandusky, in the interest of protecting its brand. Head Coach Joe Paterno was fired and school president Graham B. Spanier was forced to resign by the Board of Trustees, while two administrators were indicted for perjury.
If the allegations are true, in addition to severe reputational damage, Penn State faces the prospect of huge financial exposure from lawsuits by sexual-abuse victims who can credibly charge the university had ample warning that Sandusky preyed on children but did little or nothing to stop it.
The recent Penn State sexual abuse tragedy brought to the forefront the horrific reality of child sexual abuse. Powerful, trusted institutions can be greatly intimidating to child victims and their families, and give deference to the offenders, making the horrific situations even more perilous to the victims. In order to shield themselves from harm, the reputations and respected history of the institutions have been continually put before the welfare of child victims of sexual abuse.
This program discusses the recent Penn State sexual abuse allegations, the advantage that trusted institutions have over victims, as well as legal consequences for anyone who participates in or enables child molestation and abuse, including religious organizations. It also looks at the positive impact that occurs when a courageous survivor of sexual abuse takes a stand and files a lawsuit. Anderson will discuss how out of pain can come growth, understanding, and awareness for institutions who can prevent situations such as those at Penn State.
Jeff Anderson is a nationally known trial lawyer and is widely recognized as a pioneer in sexual abuse litigation. He has tried over two hundred and fifty jury trials to verdict and has represented thousands of survivors of sexual abuse by authority figures and clergy. Noted for his optimism, energy and compassion for his clients and their causes, he is credited with being instrumental in exposing a large scale cover-up of pedophile priests in the early 1980's. One of the first trial lawyers in America to publicly and aggressively initiate suit against religious organizations and hold them responsible by utilizing the American civil justice system. His uncompromising advocacy for change and justice has resulted in several punitive damage verdicts to both punish and deter the corporate officers and church hierarchy from concealing and protecting child molesters.
If you intend to take a course for CLE credit, please make sure your state is listed in the "Accreditation" section to the upper right of the program description. Accreditation displayed is unique to the purchased program format (live conference, live webcast, on demand, podcast). Credit totals listed for live conferences are the maximum credits available. Credits issued will be based upon actual time in attendance. Credit totals for other formats are for complete programs. Partial credit is not available for any online or downloadable format.
West LegalEdcenter will not provide accreditation for states not listed.
This product is intended for individual use by the named purchaser. Group viewings for online programs may be arranged for five or more attorneys within the same organization prior to viewing by emailing west.wlec-sales@thomson.com.
