Miami sexual assault in local day care center results in civil suit
September 04, 2009
A Miami woman filed suit against a south Miami day care center for failing to prevent her five year-old child from being sexually assaulted. The lawsuit accuses the day care of negligence for allowing her child to be a victim of
child sexual abuse. The civil complaint filed in the Miami-Dade Circuit Court lists Discovery Day Care, Inc. as the defendant in the case and alleges that the school was negligent in allowing an employee's 13 year-old son to molest two pre-school age children.
The 13 year-old boy was initially charged in
juvenile court with two counts of sexual assault. A Miami criminal defense attorney was able to negotiate a plea to two lesser included charges of battery. Charge bargaining in the Miami Juvenile Justice System is a common occurrence. Of course, charge bargaining may be limited depending on the severity of the crime. Typically, if a crime is serious enough, the State Attorney's Office will bind up a juvenile case to adult court where the juvenile will be facing adult sanctions.
The juvenile, only referred to as R.S. in the court records was sentenced to sexual behavior counseling, 100 community service hours, a stay away order and a curfew. He is schedule to be on probation until 2011. The information filed in state court alleged that the defendant forced a 5 year-old child to perform oral sex on him on at least 10 occasions. The sex acts were performed during nap times back in 2008. The defendant was caught when he attempted to do the same thing to a second young girl in the case. This time, the young girl reported the incident to her mother, who in turn called the police.
Since the resolution of the criminal case, the mother and child have since moved to Tampa, Florida. The attorney representing the mother and child, said the child suffered irreparable harm and is seeking monetary compensation in the civil
negligence lawsuit. The mother claims that she filed suit because she and her family will never be the same. She trusted the school to protect her small daughter and should have prevented the teenager from sexually assaulting her child.
South Miami-Dade Day-Care Center Sued Over Sex Assaults, The Miami Herald, September 3, 2009.
