Massachusetts Personal Injury Library
Seeking Justice When Your Child Experiences Physical Abuse (Part A)
Child physical abuse can cause a variety of injuries to your child and in some cases, a life-long trauma. When a child has been injured by an abusive adult, many parents are surprised to find that a trusted adult is responsible for their child’s injuries.
The Abuser Could be Someone Close to You
The perpetrator of child abuse could be someone your child talks to every day – a favorite relative, sports coach or next-door neighbor.
The behavior can be something you never would have thought possible from that person. Physical abuse of children can be a one-time violent act or systematic injury on repeated occasions. In either case, your loved one may suffer serious physical and mental injuries resulting from any incidents.
Types of Child Physical Abuse
The type of physical abuse may relate to a child’s age, such as baby shaking, or pinching, or to a caregiver’s negligence, such as an unsupervised pool drowning.
A child injury attorney who specializes in personal injury and wrongful death can help you get to the bottom of your child’s problems and learn who is responsible. Sometimes a school or business is also liable. If the physical abuse is shown to be part of a larger pattern involving other young individuals, the case against the offending adult will become even stronger.
Still, physical abuse of children can be difficult to prove. “Reasonable” physical discipline, or corporal punishment, can blur the lines of child abuse laws.
If parents practice this type of discipline at home, it might be more difficult to persuade a jury of a child’s physical abuse claim. A personal injury lawyer who works with child abuses cases and knows about new laws and court decisions can best handle this sensitive legal issue.
The Boundaries of Child Abuse
It should be simple to distinguish physical punishment meant to “smart” from physical force that ends in injury to a child. Parents who file civil lawsuits over child abuse do so when there is physical or behavioral evidence.
A serious child accident such as a head injury or brain injury can devastate and completely change your child’s life as well as your family’s lives. If your child has been injured through physical abuse or sexual abuse in Boston, Massachusetts you should contact an experienced Boston child injury lawyer to determine liability.
Continue to Seeking Justice When Your Child Experiences Physical Abuse (Part B) >>
