A California appeals court has reinstated a lawsuit filed against youth soccer organizations by the parents of a girl who was sexually abused by her coach, ruling the defendants had a duty to conduct criminal background checks of all adults who would have contact with children involved in their programs.

Emanuele Fabrizio sexually abused “Jane Doe,” who was then 12 years old, from May 2011 to March 2012. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading no contest to continuous sexual abuse of a child and lewd and lascivious acts on a child under age 14, according to Wednesday’s ruling by the Court of Appeals of California, Sixth District, in San Jose in Doe v. United States Youth Soccer Association Inc. et al.

The girl’s parents filed suit, charging the Frisco, Texas-based United States Youth Soccer Association Inc., the Pleasanton, California-based California Youth Soccer Association Inc. and the San Jose, California-based West Valley Youth Soccer League with negligence and willful misconduct.

A trial court held the defendants had no duty to protect the plaintiff from criminal conduct by a third party and dismissed the case. A unanimous three-judge appeals court panel reversed that ruling.

US Youth bylaws require that its state associations and each affiliate league collect and screen criminal conviction information on its coaches, trainers, volunteers and administrators, but can collect this information by means of a “voluntary disclosure form,” according to the ruling. 

Although Mr. Fabrizio had been convicted in 2007 of battery against his spouse, he did not reveal this on the form, and neither Cal North nor West Valley conducted a criminal background check although he had authorized them to do so, according to the ruling. 

“Here, balancing the degree of foreseeability of harm to children in defendants’ soccer programs against their minimal burden, we conclude that defendants had a duty to require and conduct criminal background checks of defendants’ employees and volunteers who had contact with children in their programs,” said the ruling.

“Though we do not attribute moral blame to defendants…the connection between her injury and defendants’ failure to conduct a criminal background check was close, and preventing harm to children is a paramount goal of our society,” said the ruling, in reinstating the negligence charge.

The judge said, however, the defendants should not be charged with willful misconduct. The facts “do not establish that West Valley knew or should have known that Fabrizio had either sexually abused or would probably sexually abuse plaintiff,” said the ruling.
The case was remanded for further proceedings.