Clergy & Religious Institution Abuse

Wear Trial Law represents survivors of sexual abuse by clergy, staff, and volunteers at churches, dioceses, congregations, temples, and faith-based youth programs across Northern California. These cases turn on institutional knowledge — what the organization was told, when, and what it did next. Michael Wear handles these matters personally, and survivors can often proceed anonymously.

Why these cases are institutional cases

The individual who caused the harm frequently has no assets, has left the ministry, or has died. The organization remains — along with its records.

Religious institutions in California have produced, through litigation and disclosure programs, a documented history of internal reports that were never referred to law enforcement, personnel moved between parishes and congregations after complaints, and treatment programs used as an alternative to removal. That history is discoverable, and prior-knowledge evidence in a survivor’s own case often exists in files created decades ago.

What survivors often do not know

You were probably not the first. Discovery in these cases regularly reveals earlier complaints about the same individual.

A diocesan or denominational compensation program is not the same as a civil claim. These programs typically require a release of all claims, cap payments, and provide no discovery — meaning the survivor never learns what the institution knew. Speak with an attorney before signing anything from such a program.

Bankruptcy does not necessarily end a claim. Where a diocese or organization has filed, claims proceed on a different track with its own bar dates, which are strict and easy to miss.

Deadlines

Deadlines depend on whether the abuse occurred before or after January 1, 2024, and whether the survivor was a minor or an adult. Adult survivors may fall within the AB 250 revival window, open through December 31, 2027, where a cover-up is alleged against a private entity — a category that describes many religious-institution cases. See Revival Windows: What’s Open Right Now.

Faith and the decision to come forward

Many survivors carry a genuine attachment to a community they do not want to harm. That is taken seriously here. Pursuing a claim against an institution’s leadership is not an attack on a congregation or a faith, and the firm’s experience is that accountability more often protects a community than damages it.

Confidential and free. Call 415-233-9688.