Key West Injury Lawyer Blog
Over a dozen people were charged with sex-related crimes following a recent, multi-agency investigation in the Lower Keys, officials with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office told local media.
At least two men, both in their 40s, were faced with charges related to using a computer to solicit a child and/or traveling to meet a minor, according to reporting from NBC 6 South Florida. The operation, which was focused on human trafficking crimes and the sexual exploitation of children on the internet, involved agencies such as the FBI, homeland security, local law enforcement, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigation Service.
Over a dozen other adults were charged in Monroe County with various sex-related crimes that did not involve children following the investigation.
With technology at the center of everyday life, it is essential that parents and guardians do what they can to protect their children on the internet and teach them best practices for safety. In data gathered by UNICEF, it is estimated that 20 million children suffered sexual abuse online in one year. Most of these cases, which involved children aged 12 to 17 years old, occurred on social media.
While many fearful adults may picture an unknown villain as the online culprit of this abuse, the data showed that more than half of the reported cases involved someone that the child already knew. As a personal injury law firm with five decades of experience representing the vulnerable against individuals, corporations, and agencies that knew or should have known about the abuse, this is a tragically well-known fact.
Leesfield Shapiro
Leesfield Shapiro has spent decades fighting on behalf of victims and survivors of sexual violence throughout Florida. For some, a property’s negligent and inadequate security paved the way for a predator to enter the location where our client was and attack them. For others, their attackers were disguised as individuals they thought they could trust such as church leaders, teachers, tutors, and coaches. The firm has built a strong reputation in zealously advocating on behalf of victims and survivors while pursuing all avenues of compensation, including going after corporations and agencies that knew about and ignored the abuse taking place, utterly failing our clients.
In the United States, it is estimated that someone is sexually assaulted every 68 seconds, according to data from the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). Every nine minutes, that person is a child. Our attorneys have represented enough clients to know the long-lasting impact that the trauma of sexual abuse can have on victims and survivors.
Our attorneys represent every client with the compassion, diligence and tenacity necessary to achieve the best possible outcome and hold those responsible accountable for the damage they have caused.
Partner Justin B. Shapiro and Trial Attorney Evan Robinson are representing a minor and her family in an ongoing case after the girl was sexually assaulted while swimming in a Florida hotel’s pool.
The firm is representing a woman who was left traumatized after it was discovered that an employee with the cruise ship she was traveling on had planted hidden cameras in her room and the room of other passengers. Many of the victims who were filmed without their knowledge included children.
This employee was sentenced to 30 years in prison for creating child sex abuse material.
That case is being handled by Trial Attorney Bernardo Pimentel II.
Mr. Pimentel is also representing a minor who was targeted and sexually assaulted by an adult school security guard.
Previous Cases
Mr. Shapiro secured a $16 million settlement for a couple who were brutally attacked while staying as guests at a hotel. The assailant in that case viciously beat both victims. He also raped and sexually assaulted the wife.
Despite the hotel’s known history of violent incidents, management had disregarded repeated recommendations from both law enforcement and a private security firm to employ armed security personnel.
On the day of the incident, the attacker gained unrestricted access to the hotel due to the absence of basic safety measures, such as functioning locks or keycard-secured elevators. He went up to the couple’s floor, where he launched a violent assault—first attacking the husband, then brutally beating and raping the wife. Disturbingly, hotel staff and on-site security witnessed parts of the attack but failed to intervene.
Ira Leesfield, the firm’s Founder and Managing Partner, and Trial Attorney Carlos A. Fabano obtained a confidential settlement on behalf four clients who were sexually abused as children by the same church official while they attended parochial schools.
Mr. Shapiro and Mr. Robinson recovered $2 million in a sexual assault.
“This result reflects our commitment to pursuing accountability on behalf of our clients,” Mr. Robinson said of the outcome.
Previously, the firm secured $8.6 million for a camper at a well-known Florida summer camp. A counselor at the camp in that case was later found to have been sexually abusing our minor client. The camp ignored clear warning signs, to the detriment of the child they were entrusted to protect.
Leesfield Shapiro attorneys previously secured a confidential settlement for a child who was flying as an unaccompanied minor on an airline and meant to be under the care of flight officials. During the flight, the child was sexually abused by another passenger.
In a case involving multiple students who were sexually abused by a teacher at a prestigious Florida high school, the victims and survivors were paid multi-million-dollar reparations thanks to the work of Leesfield Shapiro.
The firm represented a Canadian cruise ship passenger who was attacked and raped in her private cabin by a crew member. This crew member used his employee keycard to enter the woman’s room. A multi-million-dollar recover was obtained for the woman in that case.
A store clerk was awarded $1.13 million in a negligent security case at a shopping mall following an incident in which the clerk was robbed and brutally raped.
A hotel maid was raped while on the job by a man who was not a guest who roamed the property without being questioned. Leesfield Shapiro secured a $1 million settlement for the woman.
If you or someone you know has been sexually abused, you are not alone. Help can be found by calling the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
