Case filed against Highlands Ranch Community Association 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 Douglas County District Court (Case No. 2020cv 31001, Div. 5) on behalf of Emily Stanton (a Colorado nurse) against Highlands Ranch Community Association, Matt Muller (HRCA Supervisor) and William Fearing (a former Highlands Ranch Community Association racquetball program director and coach of youth leagues).

Plaintiff Emily Stanton, age 24, claims that she was sexually abused as a minor (ages 15-17) for years (2011-2013) by Defendant William Fearing, age 74, person in a position of trust as her racquetball coach, at Highlands Ranch Community Association’s Northridge Community Center.  Fearing was supervised by Defendant Matt Muller, who was warned by another coach (an adult female) that the relationship between Fearing and his minor girl assistants (including Emily Stanton, age 14) was suspicious.  William Fearing, then age 66, was not reported and not charged at the time of the offense.  Stanton complained to law enforcement in 2018, at age 22, and Fearing was charged with and convicted of sex assault against a minor by a person in a position of trust and pattern of abuse.  Fearing, who was sentenced to 6 years jail time in May 2019 by a Douglas County judge, is serving time in evenings at Douglas County community corrections, and is already eligible for parole.

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 arsenol to help them is a big step forward for society at large.   For the defendants in these heinous cases, its a day of reckoning."