Leaving your child at a daycare can be a hard step for any parent. You are trusting the center to protect your child when you cannot be there, and you expect trained adults and clear rules about who may be around children. Most daycares meet that expectation, but some employ people who should never have been hired, and some fail to put in place the safeguards that would have kept a child safe.
If you believe your child was sexually abused while in a daycare’s care, you may be entitled to compensation for the harm your child suffered. This page covers claims against daycare centers and their staff. For general information about child sexual abuse, including warning signs and your family’s rights, see that page. Daycare sexual abuse lawyer Jeffrey Killino and our team handle these cases with care, privacy and respect for your child and your family. Call 878-888-7878 for a confidential case review.
Can You Sue a Daycare After Sexual Abuse?
Often, yes. Parents often ask whether you can sue a daycare for negligence, and what you can sue a daycare for. A daycare center and its employees owe a duty of reasonable care to the children they supervise. That duty includes the duty not to sexually abuse a child and the duty to take reasonable precautions to prevent abuse from happening. When a daycare fails in that duty and a child is harmed, the family can bring a civil claim for the child’s injuries.
Depending on the facts, a claim may be brought against the person who committed the abuse, the daycare center, its owners and managers and, in some cases, a parent company or franchisor. The employee may also face criminal charges, but a criminal case is separate from a civil claim. A family can pursue compensation even if no one is ever charged or convicted, because a civil claim has a lower burden of proof.
Licensing, safeguarding and reporting requirements vary by state and setting. A violation may be relevant to a civil investigation, but a legal review must still connect the applicable duty, the alleged failure and the harm to the child.
How Can a Daycare Be Directly Responsible for Abuse?
A daycare center may be held directly liable in a negligence claim for the harm a child suffered when its own failures made the abuse possible. The most common example is a failure to use reasonable care in screening, hiring, training or keeping an employee. A center that did not run a criminal background check, did not check references, or overlooked warning signs in an applicant’s history may be found negligent for putting that person in charge of children. The same is true of a center that kept an employee on staff after complaints or warning signs, or that never trained its staff about boundaries and about their duty to report concerns.
A center can also be directly responsible when it fails to keep strangers out. If a daycare did not take adequate precautions to prevent outsiders from entering, and an outsider who got in because of unsafe security procedures abused a child, the center may be held liable. These cases often turn on how the building was secured, who had access and whether sign-in and pickup rules were followed.
What Supervision Policies Should a Daycare Have?
Parents also ask how daycare sexual abuse can be prevented. Well-run daycares have written policies and enforce them. They avoid situations where one adult is alone with one child out of sight of others, and they use open sight lines in classrooms, bathrooms and diapering areas. They set clear rules for toileting and diapering, keep strict sign-in and sign-out procedures, and control who may pick up a child. They keep staffing ratios at the level the law requires and keep records of which adult was with which children. Many also set limits on contact between staff and children outside the center, including on phones and social media, and give parents a clear way to raise concerns.
When a daycare ignores its own policies, or has none, that can be strong evidence of negligence. In an investigation we look at licensing records, inspection reports, staffing schedules, camera footage and any earlier complaints, because a pattern of problems can show that the center knew of a risk and did nothing.
What Are a Daycare’s Reporting Duties?
In most states, daycare workers are mandated reporters, which means they must report suspected child abuse to child protective services or the police. A daycare may also have to notify the state licensing agency and the child’s parents. If staff learned of signs of abuse and did nothing, covered it up or discouraged a parent from reporting, the center may be responsible for what happened afterwards. Failure to report can also be a separate wrong that allows abuse to continue and harms other children.
Can an Employer Be Responsible Apart From Its Own Negligence?
Vicarious liability concerns responsibility for another person’s conduct. Whether it can apply to abuse depends on state law and the relevant employment facts. It should be assessed separately from allegations that the daycare itself failed in hiring, supervision, security or reporting; neither theory is automatic.
What Should a Parent Do If They Suspect Abuse at a Daycare?
Make sure your child is safe and away from the person or the center. Stay calm and listen to your child without pressing for details, because repeated questioning can be upsetting and can affect later interviews. Get your child medical care, and ask about counseling and support for your child and your family. Report your concern to child protective services or the police, and a lawyer can help you understand the process. Write down what your child said, when they said it and who was caring for them, and keep any records, texts or photos from the daycare. Do not confront the daycare or sign anything from its insurer before you speak with a lawyer.
Filing deadlines for a child’s claim vary by state, and for sexual abuse some states have special rules that can extend the deadline. A lawyer can tell you which deadline applies, so you do not lose your child’s rights by waiting.
Which Evidence Can Help Explain What the Daycare Knew?
Preserve enrollment documents, communications, staff names, dates of concerns and any available incident information. A legal investigation may seek staffing records, prior complaints, licensing findings and surveillance through the appropriate process. Those materials can help establish notice and the response to a known risk.
Keep an accurate account of a child’s spontaneous words without repeatedly questioning them. Medical, child-protection and law-enforcement professionals can explain the appropriate next steps for safety and investigation.
What Can Compensation Address After Daycare Sexual Abuse?
Where a civil claim is supported, recoverable losses may include treatment, counseling, the effects of the abuse and other losses allowed by the applicable law. The evidence should address the child’s individual needs rather than assume a standard settlement amount.
A lawyer can also explain procedural requirements and how the child’s privacy may be protected. The existence of an injury, an insurance policy or a criminal investigation does not guarantee recovery in a civil claim.
How Can a Daycare Sexual Abuse Lawyer Help?
If your child was sexually abused at a daycare, call daycare sexual abuse lawyer Jeffrey Killino at 878-888-7878 for dedicated and experienced help. We work gently and at your family’s pace. We investigate the daycare’s hiring, policies and records, identify every responsible party and pursue compensation for your child’s care, therapy and future needs. Your call is free and confidential, and nothing is asked of you before you decide to go forward.
How Can a Daycare Be Directly Responsible for Abuse?
A daycare center may be held directly liable in a negligence claim for the harm a child suffered when its own failures made the abuse possible. The most common example is a failure to use reasonable care in screening, hiring, training or keeping an employee. A center that did not run a criminal background check, did not check references, or overlooked warning signs in an applicant’s history may be found negligent for putting that person in charge of children. The same is true of a center that kept an employee on staff after complaints or warning signs, or that never trained its staff about boundaries and about their duty to report concerns.
A center can also be directly responsible when it fails to keep strangers out. If a daycare did not take adequate precautions to prevent outsiders from entering, and an outsider who got in because of unsafe security procedures abused a child, the center may be held liable. These cases often turn on how the building was secured, who had access and whether sign-in and pickup rules were followed.
What Supervision Policies Should a Daycare Have?
Parents also ask how daycare sexual abuse can be prevented. Well-run daycares have clear written policies and enforce them. They avoid situations where one adult is alone with one child out of sight of others, and they use open sight lines in classrooms, bathrooms and diapering areas. They set clear rules for toileting and diapering, keep strict sign-in and sign-out procedures, and control exactly who may pick up a child. They keep staffing ratios at the level the law requires and keep records of which adult was with which children. Many also set limits on contact between staff and children outside the center, including on phones and social media, and give parents a clear way to raise concerns.
When a daycare ignores its own policies, or has none, that can be strong evidence of negligence. In an investigation we look at licensing records, inspection reports, staffing schedules, camera footage and any earlier complaints, because a pattern of problems can show that the center knew of a risk and did nothing.
What Are a Daycare’s Reporting Duties?
In most states, daycare workers are mandated reporters, which means they must report suspected child abuse to child protective services or the police. A daycare may also have to notify the state licensing agency and the child’s parents. If staff learned of signs of abuse and did nothing, covered it up or discouraged a parent from reporting, the center may be responsible for what happened afterwards. Failure to report can also be a separate wrong that allows abuse to continue and harms other children.
Is a Daycare Responsible Even If It Used Reasonable Care?
Sometimes. Even if a daycare used reasonable care in its safety procedures and in screening, training, hiring and keeping its employees, it may still be held vicariously liable when a daycare employee abuses a child in the center. Vicarious liability holds an employer responsible for what its employees do while carrying out their work. The rules differ from state to state, and in some states courts are reluctant to apply this theory to sexual abuse, so a lawyer should review the law where your child was hurt. Even where it does not apply, a family can often rely on the center’s own negligence.
Who Can Be Held Responsible When a Child Is Abused at Daycare?
The person who committed the abuse is responsible for their own actions and can be sued as well as prosecuted. The daycare center and its owners can be responsible for negligent hiring, training, supervision, security and failure to report, and as the employer. In some cases a parent company or franchisor may share responsibility, depending on how much control it had over the center’s practices. Identifying every responsible party matters because each one may have separate insurance, which can make the difference in whether a child’s long-term counseling and care can be paid for.
What Should a Parent Do If They Suspect Abuse at a Daycare?
Make sure your child is safe and away from the person or the center. Stay calm and listen to your child without pressing for details, because repeated questioning can be upsetting and can affect later interviews. Get your child medical care, and ask about counseling and support for your child and your family. Report your concern to child protective services or the police, and a lawyer can help you understand the process. Write down what your child said, when they said it and who was caring for them, and keep any records, texts or photos from the daycare. Do not confront the daycare or sign anything from its insurer before you speak with a lawyer.
Filing deadlines for a child’s claim vary by state, and for sexual abuse some states have special rules that can extend the deadline. A lawyer can tell you which deadline applies, so you do not lose your child’s rights by waiting.
How Can a Daycare Sexual Abuse Lawyer Help?
If your child was sexually abused at a daycare, call daycare sexual abuse lawyer Jeffrey Killino at 878-888-7878 for dedicated and experienced help. We work gently and at your family’s pace. We investigate the daycare’s hiring, policies and records, identify every responsible party and pursue compensation for your child’s care, therapy and future needs. Your call is free and confidential, and nothing is asked of you before you decide to go forward.
