Steelville calls itself the Floating Capital of Missouri. Every summer, thousands of people come to the Meramec, Huzzah, and Courtois rivers to float, camp, and rent cabins. Most of those trips end with sunburns and good stories. But when a guest is sexually assaulted at a campground, river outfitter, or rental cabin, the question afterward is often whether the business could have prevented it.
Missouri's rule: businesses don't have to prevent every crime, but they can't ignore danger
Missouri law does not make a business automatically responsible for a crime someone else commits on its property. In 2018, the Missouri Supreme Court decided Wieland v. Owner-Operator Services, Inc. That same year, the legislature passed the Business Premises Safety Act. Together they set out when a business does owe its guests protection:
- The business knew or had reason to know that criminal acts were happening, or were reasonably likely, in that area of the property.
- There was enough time to act and prevent the harm.
- The business failed to take reasonable security measures.
In practice, a campground that knew about prior assaults or a dangerous repeat guest, and did nothing, stands in a very different place than one that had no warning at all.
What this can look like in Crawford County
Every case is different, but these situations can raise questions about a business's responsibility:
- A campground had earlier complaints about a particular guest or group and let them stay.
- Cabin doors or locks were broken and staff knew it.
- Staff ignored a guest's report that someone was harassing or following them.
- A business rented to an employee or caretaker with a known history and gave that person keys or access.
- Large weekend crowds came in with no staff on site overnight and no way to call for help.
Why acting quickly matters, especially for visitors
Many people who float near Steelville come from St. Louis, Springfield, or out of state. After an assault they go home, and the evidence that would show what the business knew starts to disappear. Security video gets recorded over. Seasonal staff move on. Incident logs and guest registers can be lost.
A Steelville-based attorney can move quickly to preserve that evidence locally. Living hours away doesn't necessarily stop you from bringing a claim over what happened here.
You do not have to have all the answers
You don't need to know whether the business is responsible before you talk to a lawyer. Figuring that out is the lawyer's job. If you want to understand the deadlines, read our post on Missouri's statute of limitations for sexual abuse claims. To see what a claim involves, read our step-by-step guide to the civil process.
Cardinal Law is at 211 Main St in downtown Steelville. Call (573) 885-1400 for a confidential conversation.