Case filed against Aurora Public Schools under new Child Sex Abuse Accountability Act

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Denver,  Colorado.  Colorado’s Top Personal Injury Law Firm® trial lawyer James Avery has filed a civil cause of action for sexual misconduct against a minor under the newly enacted Colorado law (SB021-088, CRS 13-20-1202) governing Sexual Misconduct Against Minors in in Arapahoe County District Court, Centennial, Colorado (Case No. 2022cv30065) on behalf of Angelica Saupe (a retired Colorado 911 dispatcher) against Aurora Public Schools and David James O'Neill Jr (a former Rangeview High School basketball/softball coach, Fellowship of Christian Athletes leader, and campus monitor). 

Plaintiff Angelica Saupe, age 35, claims that she was sexually abused as a minor (ages 14-17) for years (2000-2004) by Defendant David James O'Neill Jr., age 64, person in a position of trust as her basketball coach, at Aurora Public School’s Rangeview High School.  O'Neill, then age 43, was not reported and not charged at the time of the offense. Saupe complained to law enforcement in 2007, at age 20, and was told charges would not be filed.  Saupe has never been contacted by Aurora Public Schools, although she believes the School District was contacted by Aurora Police at the time of her complaint.

The newly enacted law (SB021-088), effective Jan 1, 2022, creates a new cause of action effectively setting aside time limits in cases going back to 1960. Victims have 3 years (until Jan. 1, 2025) to file previously time barred claims the new law.

The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of damages.  Damages under the new law, C.R.S. 13-20-1201, are capped at Five Hundred Thousand or One Million Dollars depending on the facts of the case. 

Denver trial lawyer James Avery comment on the new law:  "This is an unprecedented opportunity for justice where it is truly needed.  I have turned away dozens of clients who were sexually abused as children but who didn't come forward in time to file a case.  This new law gives them a remedy, albeit a limited one.  These victims invariably suffer for a lifetime and the abuse effects their families, their jobs, their social relationships, virtually every aspect of their lives.  To have this new tool in the arsenal to help them is a big step forward for society at large.   For the defendants in these heinous cases, its a day of reckoning.". This is one of five new case filings by Denver Injury Law LLC under the new Act.