After Five Years – Supreme Court Brief Finally Completed!
Over five years ago, I began an unprecedented effort to obtain criminal restitution for victims of child pornography and online exploitation. A few minutes ago, our United States Supreme Court brief was finally delivered to the printer. The oral argument in this groundbreaking case is scheduled for January 22, 2014.
When I began this journey, I didn't really realize or appreciate how long and how difficult it would be. Earlier this year I counted the number of words in just the appellate briefs and motions which are well over 600,000. Long days, endless nights, someti...
Resources for Youth Vulnerable to Trafficking
Youth who age out of foster care are particularly susceptible to homelessness and becoming victims of human trafficking. The National Center for Homeless Education offers an informational webpage of resources on human trafficking targeted toward unaccompanied homeless youth and youth leaving foster care.
The webpage includes links to an issue brief and a literature review that provides information about the growing epidemic of human and sex trafficking in the United States. In addition, a link to a factsheet on recognizing and addressing human trafficking written specif...
A Big Win for Child Crime Victims
In a groundbreaking decision, a Florida federal court recently handed crime victims a significant victory, ruling for the first time that victims are entitled to confer with an assistant United States attorney before the Government enters a pre-charging, non-prosecution agreement with a defendant. Jane Doe v. United States, 08-cv-80736-KAM (S.D. Fla.). The case involved billionaire hedge fund operator Jeffrey Epstein, who induced minors to prostitute themselves, and then was granted what appears to be a special, sweetheart deal by the Feds without any victim notification ...
Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Landmark Children’s Rights Case
Earlier today, the United States Supreme Court agreed to review a case brought by the Marsh Law Firm concerning criminal restitution for victims of child pornography.
The Court agreed to decide “what, if any, causal relationship or nexus between the defendant's conduct and the victim's harm or damages must the government or the victim establish in order to recover restitution under 18 U.S.C. §2259,” the Mandatory Restitution for Sexual Exploitation of Children Act of 1994.
The case, Doyle Randall Paroline v. Amy Unknown, arises out of a long-fought and ...
Child Pornography in School – Private School Reveals Teacher’s Collection After 10 Years
Minnesota Public Radio reporter Madeleine Baran released this story today on whether private boarding school Shattuck-St. Mary's should have told police about an accused teacher's child
pornography in 2003.
Child pornography is increasingly being produced in schools with the resulting child pornography collection being stored on school-owned computers and servers. Teachers, administrators, coaches and volunteers have all been implicated in school-based child pornography in recent years.
The Marsh Law Firm has been involved with several of these cases involving child ...
Sexual Abuse of Children with Disabilities
According to the 2010 Administration on Children Youth and Families (ACYF) report, more than 3 million reports of child maltreatment were made in 2009. Of those cases, 10 percent involved sexual abuse, and 11 percent of sexual abuse victims reported having a disability.
The Vera Institute of Justice's Center on Victimization and Safety recently partnered with the Ms. Foundation for Women to research factors contributing to the sexual abuse of children with disabilities and determine possible action steps for prevention.
The project released a research brief that begins by ...