If you  are a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse or neglect, and you wish to explore your legal rights, our  team of experienced sexual abuse solicitors may be able to help you.

Our team have many years’ experience dealing with victims of all forms of abuse, including institutional abuse, clerical abuse, childhood sexual abuse, abuse within the family or in any other situation where abuse occurred. Our solicitors in Coleman Legal personal law area can help you through the entire legal process should you wish to proceed, and put you in touch with various organisations that are there to help.

We understand that any form of abuse is extremely distressing for the victim and their family, and we deal with each case on a personal, one-to-one basis with compassion, empathy and understanding.

If you would like to discuss your situation in complete confidence, please contact Kathrin Coleman by email or FREE-Phone us on 1800 844 104 .

CRIMINAL PROCESS STAGES

There are 4 main stages in the criminal process:

1. Reporting to the Gardaí. Gardai will carry on investigation and gather necessary evidence.

2. Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP)  will make the final decision whether or not to prosecute the accused person based on the strength of the evidence.

3. Going to Court

4. Sentencing

**Research has found that the average length of the criminal process from reporting stage to sentencing is 33 months**

time frames

The Statute of Limitations provides a general time limit in which you must normally bring your claim for sexual abuse compensation to court in civil proceedings. Generally, this limit is six years from the date of the assault in the case of adult sexual abuse compensation claims.

However, provisions were made in the Statute of Limitations a number of years ago to take account of a person who may not have been in a position to report an assault to the gardaí – or pursue any action in respect of the abuse they experienced – for an extended period of time.

These provisions were made in recognition that the nature of sexual abuse, and in particular the sexual abuse of a child, means that the victim is often unable to speak about the abuse for many years after an assault has taken place. Despite these provisions, courts still retain the discretion to dismiss a case on the grounds of an avoidable delay if the delay prejudices the rights of the perpetrator.

Compensation claims for sexual abuse to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal will only be extended beyond three months from the date of a conviction in exceptional circumstances – if, for example, psychiatric evaluations were still ongoing to establish the extent of your emotional trauma and the impact that the sexual assault will have on you for the rest of your life.