Fulginiti Law — Ken Fulginiti, Founder
Sexual abuse inside an institution is different.
It happens in places where people should be safest—nursing homes, hospitals, psychiatric facilities, residential treatment programs, prisons, schools, and other settings where adults depend on someone else for care, protection, or authority.
When that trust is violated, families often assume the legal system works the same way it does in the child sexual abuse cases they have seen in the news.
It doesn’t.
Adult institutional abuse can be very different with dramatically different issues.
If you are looking for answers after a parent, spouse, sibling, or another loved one has been abused, there are many questions that need to be answered, and it all starts with a meeting.
What Is Institutional Sexual Abuse?
Institutional sexual abuse happens when someone in a position of authority, trust, or control sexually abuses another person.
That authority can take many forms.
A nursing assistant.
A hospital employee.
A counselor in a residential treatment program.
A psychiatric worker.
A corrections officer.
A home health aide.
A teacher.
A caregiver.
These may appear as ordinary relationships.
The person committing the abuse may be involved in providing medication, meals, transportation, housing, medical care, education, or even whether someone can leave the building.
That position of power makes the abuse that much more egregious.
Can the Institution Be Held Responsible?
Initially, the authorities and the news might focus on the person accused of committing the abuse.
That makes sense.
But we need to focus on a different question.
Can the institution itself be held responsible too?
That question needs to be answered, and often requires a deep dive.
An institution may have ignored warning signs. It may have hired someone it should never have hired. It may have failed to investigate complaints or allowed an employee to continue working after serious concerns had already been raised.
Those facts and many others need to be developed.
That is our job.
Adult Cases Are Different From the Child Abuse Cases You’ve Heard About
Over the last several years, many people have heard about changes to the law involving survivors who were abused as children.
Adult survivors are often surprised to learn those same laws do not necessarily apply to them.
Pennsylvania and New Jersey both recognize that adults can be sexually abused in institutional settings.
The way each state handles civil claims, however, is very different.
In Pennsylvania, some adult claims can face significant legal hurdles that do not apply to childhood abuse cases.
New Jersey generally provides broader protections for adult survivors, but its own rules can become complicated depending on the type of institution involved.
The important point is this:
Do not assume that because you have heard about changes in sexual abuse laws, those same rules automatically apply to your situation.
Seek counsel immediately and let us evaluate your claims.
Why Timing Matters
People are often accused as to how much time they might have to bring a claim.
Every state has its own filing deadlines, and adult institutional-abuse cases often have much shorter timelines than people expect.
Criminal investigations can also create confusion.
A caretaker may be arrested years after abuse occurred.
A criminal prosecution may continue for a long time.
None of that necessarily means the deadline for a civil lawsuit has been extended.
That is why we encourage families not to wait for the criminal case to finish before asking about their legal rights.
The prosecutor’s calendar and the civil court’s calendar are often very different.
What We Investigate
Every survivor’s account matters.
It is where every case begins.
But when we investigate an institution, we ask many, many questions.
Had anyone complained before?
Were warning signs ignored?
Did supervisors investigate concerns?
Was an employee quietly transferred instead of removed?
Did staffing shortages leave vulnerable residents unprotected?
Did state inspections identify problems?
Plus hundreds and hundreds more.
The answers can be found with witnesses, and/or public and private records.
Personnel files.
Internal emails.
Incident reports.
Licensing records.
Inspection findings.
Disciplinary records.
Those documents may tell just part of the story of what the institution knew—and whether the abuse could have been prevented.
Pennsylvania and New Jersey Are Not the Same
Although we represent survivors in both states, Pennsylvania and New Jersey approach adult institutional-abuse cases differently.
Their laws are different, their burdens are different, their time frames to pursue causes of action are different. And all of this evolves as time goes on, new laws are passed, new cases are decided.
In New Jersey, adult survivors often have more time to pursue civil claims, and lawsuits involving public institutions are treated differently. At the same time, cases involving certain nonprofit organizations can involve other legal issues that require careful evaluation.
The differences are significant enough that advice based on one state may be completely different in the other.
Our Approach
Institutional-abuse cases require more than a compelling story.
They require preparation, discovery, depositions, investigation, experts and experience.
We prepare these cases by finding records, identifying witnesses, reconstructing decisions, and understanding what the institution knew, or should have known, before the abuse occurred.
Sometimes the most important evidence was created months—or years—before anyone ever contacted a lawyer.
That is why beginning an investigation early can make an enormous difference.
Frequently Asked Questions
My parent or spouse was abused. Can I contact you?
Yes. Many of the people who call us are family members trying to understand what happened and what options may be available.
Does it matter whether the facility was public or private?
It may. The ownership and operation of the institution can affect how a case is evaluated.
The person responsible has been arrested. Does that mean I have a lawsuit?
Not automatically. Criminal charges against an individual and a civil claim against an institution and its employees are different legal matters.
How long do I have?
That depends on the state, the circumstances of the abuse, the age of the victim/survivor and several other factors. Because the deadlines vary, it is important not to assume you have plenty of time.
Will my identity remain private?
In many cases, courts permit survivors to proceed under a pseudonym or otherwise protect their privacy. We can discuss those options during an initial consultation.
Talk to Fulginiti Law
If you or someone you love experienced sexual abuse in a nursing home, hospital, psychiatric facility, residential treatment program, correctional institution, school, or another institutional setting, you do not need to figure these legal issues out on your own.
Our job is to help you understand where you stand, explain the law, and determine whether the institution that allowed the abuse to happen can be held accountable.
Every conversation is confidential, and there is no cost to speak with us.
Call (215) 602-4204 or contact Fulginiti Law.
Fulginiti Law
One Commerce Square
2005 Market Street, Suite 3710
Philadelphia, PA 19103
