Bystander Parent Liability For Sexual Abuse

The perpetrator of sexual abuse may not be the only party liable for the harms caused to a victim of abuse. In other blogs, we have considered the issue of vicarious liability it relates to other entities including school boards and clergy. Today, we will look at the issue of "bystander" liability for sexual abuse. A "bystander" is an individual whom it is alleged knew or ought to have known about sexual abuse at the time it occurred, but failed to intervene to stop the abuse or otherwise to protect the victim.Alleged bystanders are frequently parents or other close relatives.In other words, bystanders are grownups who were supposed to protect children (or other vulnerable individuals)in their care but failed to do so. Claims against bystanders are usually framed in terms of negligence or breach of fiduciary duty.These are causes of action that require there to be an existing relationship in which the bystander is obligated to consider, and in some cases protect, the interests of the victim. In Antrobus v. Antrobus, 2015 BCCA 288, the British Columbia Court of Appeal considered the case of a woman named Linda. Linda sued her parents, and her aunt and uncle, claiming each of these adults failed to protect her from sexual abuse at the hands of her grandfather. The abuse at issue in this case is alleged to have taken place in 1960. Linda's grandfather, the perpetrator of the abuse, died in 1976. The trial took place in 2014, nearly 40 years after his death and 64 years after the abuse occurred.

The case turned on whether or not Linda's parents, aunt, and uncle knew the grandfather was a pedophile and failed to take reasonable care to protect Linda from danger. The trial judge dismissed the claim against the aunt and uncle, but held that the parents knew the grandfather was a pedophile and found them liable in negligence and for a breach of fiduciary duty. The parents appealed, arguing the trial judge applied the wrong standard of care for bystander parents who had not committed the actual abuse. The parents also argued the judge erred in holding them liable for a breach of fiduciary duty in the absence of a finding that they put their own interests ahead of those of their daughter. Finally, the parents appealed the factual finding that they knew the grandfather was a pedophile. The trial judge found the abuse suffered by Linda was far more serious than what her parents testified she described to them?, and this finding was not challenged on...