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Last Updated: 7/13/2020
Lawyer Commentary: In the second part of this story, sexual abuse lawyer Bobby Thompson discusses the legal rights of youth sports sex abuse victims and their families. Bobby has experience handling cases were coaches were charged with sexually abusing students.
A sports coach in the Rancho Cordova area was arrested in January for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a minor who played for the team he coached.
38-year-old James Brian Rhodes faces 24 felony sex abuse charges, including 21 counts of unlawful sexual intercourse, one count of sexual penetration with a foreign object, one count of oral copulation, and one count of sodomy.
According to court records, the alleged sexual abuse started in March 2019. Rhodes left the American River Futbol Club in July of the same year. The alleged abuse continued for nine months, until December 2019.
Rhodes was ordered held at the Placer County Jail without bail.
Police are continuing to investigate to determine if there are more victims. Anyone with information concerning Rhodes or other possible victims has been asked to call the Roseville Police Investigations Unit at 916-746-1059.
Attorney contributor Bobby Thompson is an experienced sex abuse victim attorney who represents victims in civil lawsuits. Bobby has offered to share some info on the legal rights of youth sports sex abuse victims and their families:
Youth sports offer a wide range of benefits for kids who participate in them, including learning the virtues of teamwork and working hards towards achieving a goal.
However, there have also been reports of youth sports coaches sexually abusing players from their teams. In youth sports and other fields that involve adults working with children, it’s critical to make sure those adults are trustworthy and that the kids in the program are not at risk of becoming victims of sexual abuse.
When a youth sports coach is charged with sexually abusing players, we should ask whether the abuse could have been prevented. Youth sports leagues have a legal duty to make sure their participants are safe.
In some cases, abuse of a player may have been prevented if not for negligence by the league – such as failing to run background checks for coaches. In cases of negligence, youth sports sex abuse victims and their families may have grounds for a lawsuit against the league.
You can learn more about the legal rights of youth sports sex abuse victims in a free consultation with one of our experienced sex abuse victim lawyers.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article240309316.html
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