Church & Institutional Sexual Abuse
Church and Institutional Sexual Abuse in Michigan: Breaking the Silence and Holding Institutions Accountable
Sexual abuse by clergy, teachers, coaches, and other institutional authority figures is one of the most devastating forms of betrayal a person can experience. The abuser exploits a position of trust — spiritual authority, educational authority, mentoring authority — to prey on people who are vulnerable precisely because they trusted the institution. And the institution itself, more often than not, knew or should have known what was happening and chose to protect its reputation instead of protecting the victims.
At Koussan Law, I represent survivors of institutional sexual abuse — in churches, schools, youth organizations, sports programs, and any other setting where an institution placed an abuser in a position of access to victims. These cases are not just about what the abuser did. They're about what the institution failed to do: the warning signs they ignored, the complaints they buried, the transfers they arranged to move the abuser to a new group of unsuspecting victims, and the culture of silence they enforced to prevent accountability.
Institutional Liability: Beyond the Individual Abuser
The individual abuser is always liable for the abuse. But individual abusers rarely have assets or insurance to provide meaningful compensation. The institution — the church, the diocese, the school district, the youth organization — is where meaningful accountability and recovery exist. Institutional liability theories include: negligent hiring (failing to screen employees and volunteers for prior offenses), negligent supervision (failing to monitor interactions between adults and minors), negligent retention (keeping an employee after receiving complaints or warnings), and vicarious liability (the institution is liable for acts committed within the scope of the abuser's authority).
Michigan courts have also recognized claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against public institutions — schools, juvenile facilities, government-run programs — where officials with deliberate indifference allowed abuse to occur. For private religious institutions, First Amendment defenses are sometimes raised but do not shield an institution from liability for failing to prevent known sexual abuse.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How long do I have to file a sexual abuse claim in Michigan?
Michigan has significantly extended the statute of limitations for sexual abuse claims. Under MCL § 600.5851b, victims of criminal sexual conduct committed when they were minors can file civil claims until their 48th birthday — or within three years of discovering the connection between the abuse and their injuries, whichever is later. For abuse occurring after certain dates, there may be no time limit at all. This extension recognizes that many survivors don't fully understand or feel able to confront the abuse until decades later. I evaluate every survivor's timeline individually.
Q: What if the church or institution claims they didn't know about the abuse?
"We didn't know" is the default institutional defense — and it's almost never true. I pursue discovery aggressively: personnel files, internal correspondence, complaint records, transfer documents, insurance claims, and testimony from other employees who saw or reported warning signs. Institutions that claim ignorance are often contradicted by their own records. The legal standard isn't actual knowledge alone — it's also "knew or should have known." An institution that failed to conduct background checks, failed to implement abuse prevention policies, or failed to investigate complaints is liable regardless of whether they had actual knowledge.
Q: Can I file a claim anonymously?
Michigan courts can allow sexual abuse plaintiffs to proceed under a pseudonym (e.g., "Jane Doe" or "John Doe") to protect their privacy. I request this in every institutional abuse case where the client wants confidentiality. The defendant will know the plaintiff's identity during the litigation, but the public filings and any media coverage can use the pseudonym. Privacy protection is critical for survivors who are still processing the abuse or who fear stigma.
Q: What compensation is available for institutional sexual abuse survivors?
Economic damages include past and future therapy and counseling costs, medical treatment for related conditions (depression, anxiety, PTSD, substance abuse), lost earning capacity resulting from the psychological impact of the abuse, and educational costs if the abuse disrupted the survivor's education. Non-economic damages include pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of the ability to form trusting relationships. Michigan does not cap non-economic damages in sexual abuse cases.
