Michigan Child Sexual Abuse Lawyer

Some people find this page within days of learning what happened to their child. Others find it decades after it happened to them. The questions are the same in either case: who can be held responsible, how much time is left, and what pursuing a claim will ask of the person who was harmed.

We answer those questions in plain language, and the deadline question, the one most survivors are afraid to ask, deserves its answer first. For many survivors, a civil case is still possible years or even decades later. For some older claims, current Michigan law closes the door, and pending legislation may reopen it. Which category your claim falls into depends on specific dates, and no website can tell you that. A confidential conversation can. Vahdat Weisman Law sexual assault attorneys represent survivors of child sexual abuse and their families across Michigan in civil claims against abusers and against the institutions that gave them access to children. Call (734) 469-4994 for a free, confidential consultation, any hour. You pay no attorney fee unless we recover compensation.

The Civil Case Is Not the Criminal Case

Criminal charges punish the abuser, and a sentencing court can order some restitution. What criminal court rarely provides is full compensation for therapy, lost education, lost earning capacity, and the psychological harm itself. That is what the civil case is for, and it runs on its own track. A civil claim can proceed while a prosecution is pending, after a conviction, or when prosecutors never charge anyone at all, because the civil standard of proof is lower than proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and Michigan law is explicit that no prosecution or conviction is required.

For the most serious form of criminal sexual conduct against a child, Michigan sets no criminal deadline at all: first-degree CSC can be prosecuted at any time under MCL 767.24. Reporting to law enforcement remains an option no matter how old the abuse is, and we help families make that report while the civil case is built alongside it.

How Long Do Survivors Have to File a Civil Claim?

Michigan extended its civil deadlines in 2018, after the Larry Nassar cases forced the Legislature to confront how long disclosure actually takes. Under MCL 600.5851b, a person who was sexually abused as a minor may sue for damages caused by the criminal sexual conduct until age 28, or within three years of discovering both the injury and its causal connection to the abuse, whichever is later. For civil claims based on criminal sexual conduct generally, Michigan allows ten years under MCL 600.5805.

Three cautions belong with those rules, because this is where hope and law have to be reconciled carefully. First, in 2024, the Michigan Supreme Court held in McLain v Roman Catholic Diocese of Lansing that the 2018 law does not revive claims that had already expired before it took effect. A survivor whose claim was time-barred under the old law before June 2018 generally cannot use the new discovery rule to bring it back. Second, the discovery provision is fact-intensive and contested in nearly every case where it is used; no lawyer should promise it applies before hearing your dates. Third, claims against institutions, a school, a church, a youth program, are often governed by shorter negligence periods than the claims against the abuser, and public institutions add governmental immunity and strict notice requirements of their own. Deadlines here are defendant-by-defendant, which is why we map every date at the first meeting.

Lansing may change this landscape. The Justice for Survivors package passed the Michigan Senate in May 2025, and a companion package was introduced in the House in June 2026. Those bills would extend deadlines to age 42 or later, remove any deadline for claims against convicted abusers, and open a one-year window to revive expired claims. They are not law as of this writing. If they pass, survivors whose claims are expired today may get a second chance, which is a real reason to have your dates evaluated now and your claim ready rather than assuming the answer is no forever.

Holding Institutions Accountable, Not Just Abusers

Most abusers cannot compensate for the harm they cause. Institutions often can, and in many cases the institution’s failures are what made the abuse possible. Michigan law shapes how those cases must be built: the Michigan Supreme Court has held that an employer ordinarily is not vicariously liable for an employee’s sexual assault, so institutional cases rest on the organization’s own negligence in hiring, retention, supervision, response to complaints, and reporting. What the organization knew, and when, is usually the whole case.

That evidence exists more often than families expect: personnel files, earlier complaints, transfer patterns, background checks that were skipped where the law or the organization’s own policy required them. Michigan’s Child Protection Law, MCL 722.623, requires teachers, doctors, counselors, and many other professionals to report suspected abuse to Children’s Protective Services immediately at 855-444-3911, and under MCL 722.633, a mandated reporter who fails to report can be civilly liable for the harm that failure proximately caused.

Michigan’s recent history shows what institutional accountability can look like. Michigan State University paid $500 million to survivors of Larry Nassar. The University of Michigan paid approximately $490 million to patients of Robert Anderson. The Michigan Attorney General’s investigation of the state’s Catholic dioceses has produced public reports on the Grand Rapids and Saginaw dioceses, naming accused clergy, with the important caveat that inclusion in those reports reflects allegations rather than adjudicated findings. We cite these not to promise similar results, because no past result predicts any case, but because survivors deserve to know that Michigan institutions have been made to answer. One practical note from those cases: if an institution ever offered you a settlement, a compensation program payment, or a release, bring the paperwork, because what was signed then shapes what is possible now.

What You Should Know Before Anyone Files Anything

Survivors can often litigate under a pseudonym. Courts in these cases frequently permit a plaintiff to proceed as John or Jane Doe, with protective orders limiting how therapy records and identifying details are used. Pseudonym status requires court approval and is never automatic, so we treat confidentiality as legal work to be done at the start of the case rather than a promise made on a website.

A civil case also does not mean your child, or you, relives everything in a public courtroom. Most civil claims resolve without trial. Where testimony is needed, it usually happens first in a deposition, outside any courtroom, and children are questioned, when they must be questioned at all, under rules designed to protect them. We will walk you through exactly what any path would ask of your family before you decide anything, including the discovery that comes with claiming psychological injuries, because informed decisions require the whole picture.

Practical help also exists before any lawsuit. Michigan’s Crime Victim Compensation program can cover counseling and other out-of-pocket costs for eligible victims, subject to its eligibility rules, and it was expanded in 2023. Sexual assault forensic examinations are not billed to the victim in Michigan. The Attorney General’s Address Confidentiality Program can shield an eligible survivor’s address. We connect clients with these resources as a matter of course.

What a Civil Claim Can Recover

Michigan law compensates the actual harm: therapy and psychiatric care, past and future, medical costs, lost earnings and diminished earning capacity where the abuse derailed education or work, and the pain, humiliation, and mental anguish of the abuse itself. Michigan does not allow punitive damages in the punishment sense, though exemplary damages that compensate for humiliation and indignity can be available in intentional tort cases. In child sexual abuse claims, the losses are often lifelong, and we work with psychologists and economists so the claim reflects the life that was affected, not just the diagnosis in a chart.

When the Abuser Is Someone Close

Research compiled by RAINN indicates that in child sexual abuse cases reported to law enforcement, 93 percent of victims knew their abuser. Family friends, relatives, coaches, teachers, clergy, program volunteers. Families sometimes hesitate to call because the abuser is close to them or because the organization involved is one they love, and that hesitation deserves respect, not pressure. Two things are worth knowing as you weigh it. Who the abuser was matters legally, because it determines which institutions owed your child protection and which insurance exists to pay a claim. And the CDC estimates that about one in four girls and one in twenty boys experience sexual abuse in childhood, which means no family carrying this is carrying something rare. A confidential conversation with a lawyer commits you to nothing.

Why Choose Vahdat Weisman Law?

These cases require the evidence discipline of complex negligence litigation and a pace the survivor controls. We investigate institutions before we make accusations; we use the state’s reporting and licensing systems alongside the civil case; and we tell clients the truth about their deadlines and their odds, including when the honest answer is that a claim is not viable under current law and what pending legislation might change.

Founding partners Kara E. Weisman and Jordan S. Vahdat have each been honored as Super Lawyers Rising Stars, and our attorneys are members of the State Bar of Michigan and active in the Michigan Association for Justice. We advance case costs, our phones are answered 24/7, and we serve clients in English and Spanish from our Livonia office. We handle abuse in schools and by medical providers.

Frequently Asked Questions

• The abuse happened over 20 years ago. Is it too late? It depends on your dates, and the honest answer has two halves. Under current law, claims that expired before the 2018 reforms generally were not revived, per the Michigan Supreme Court’s McLain decision. But the discovery rule can reach some older claims; minors’ claims run at least to age 28, and pending legislation would revive expired claims if it becomes law. Have the dates reviewed for free before you conclude anything.
• Can we sue if the abuser was never convicted, or never even charged? Yes. Michigan’s civil deadlines for criminal sexual conduct claims apply whether or not there was ever a prosecution, and the civil standard of proof is lower. A conviction helps when it exists, but civil cases are regularly built on records, witnesses, and the institution’s own files without one.
• Will my child have to testify? Not necessarily, and never carelessly. Most civil cases resolve without trial; testimony usually begins in deposition rather than open court, and we structure every case around protecting the child first. We will explain exactly what would be asked of your family before you decide anything.
• Can we keep our names out of public records? Courts frequently allow abuse survivors, especially minors, to proceed under pseudonyms, and protective orders can restrict sensitive records. These protections require court approval and complete invisibility cannot be promised in any lawsuit, but they are strong, and we pursue all of them.
• The organization offered us a settlement and an apology. Should we take it? Not before independent advice. Early offers usually arrive before the full scope of lifelong harm is known, and a signed release ends the claim permanently, sometimes including claims against parties you have not identified yet. Have any offer reviewed first. That review is free here.

Talk to a Michigan Child Sexual Abuse Lawyer Today

Whether the abuse happened last month or decades ago, you will get straight answers, confidentiality, and no pressure. Call Vahdat Weisman Law at (734) 469-4994 or contact us online for a free, confidential consultation. Available 24/7, serving all of Michigan, with Spanish-speaking staff.

Dedicated to Justice. Devoted to You. Winning for Your Future.

This information is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Every case is unique, and prior results do not guarantee future success.