Texas Intentional Torts and Crime Victims Rights

Under Texas Law victims of intentional torts such as sexual assault, molestation, rape, offensive touching, assault & battery, hazing, and intentional infliction of emotional harm can seek compensation from the criminals and perpetrators that have committed these intentional torts against them as well as sometimes from other parties that allowed the sexual assault, molestation, rape, or other intentional torts to occur.

An intentional tort arises when a person intends to commit a wrongful act such as sexual assault, physical assault, murder, theft, or molestation which results in serious injury, death, or significant damages. From a legal perspective, it can often be difficult to obtain compensation from a person who commits an intentional tort unless that person is wealthy. This is because most insurance policies do not cover intentional wrongful acts such as murder, sexual assault, rape, molestation, or theft. Further, most criminal and sexual predators do not have money or resources to pay compensation to their victims.

However, sometimes the injuries from a serious crime including sexual molestation or sexual assault result from the wrongful acts of more than one party. An example of this would be when a private school, church, community center, or daycare center has a duty to provide proper supervision of its premises and staff to make sure that the children in their care are safe from harm. If the church, private school, community center, or daycare center hires or allows a person that has a history of molestation or sexual assault to be around children, they may have violated their duty to protect children and negligently allowed a sexual assault or molestation to occur. Similarly, if a homeowner is taking care of someone else's child and allows someone with a history of sexual or violence with children, there may be a potential claim under homeowner's insurance, if the homeowner negligently allows the sexual predator to be alone with the child. Further, if the church, private school, community center, or daycare center allows strangers to access the premises or does not adequately screen or supervise its employees, and a child is molested as a result of the private school's, church's or daycare center's lack of care, the negligent conduct may support a legal cause of action for negligence.

Common intentional torts include sexual molestation, sexual assault, rape, battery, and child abuse. Many of these intentional torts will support a sexual molestation lawsuit or sexual assault lawsuit if the criminal is wealthy or if other parties are negligent in allowing the sexual predator to be alone with children in their care.

Many victims of crimes do not realize that there may be civil actions that can be filed against criminals in addition to criminal charges. In cases where reckless conduct such as when a drunk driver kills someone in a fatal accident, when security officers or bouncers known for violence seriously injure or kill someone, or a rich criminal commits an intentional act such as murder or rape, there are civil laws in Texas that allow the victim or the victim's family to seek compensation.