Millions awarded to three US siblings abused by sexual psychopath foster child ‘WS’, aged 12, whose new family wasn’t warned about him
- The boy, identified only by his initials, was placed with a Washington state family without them being told of his violent sexual tendencies
- He molested his foster siblings aged 12, 6 and 5 and is now a registered sex offender
A federal judge has approved a US$3 million settlement for three children who were molested after a Washington state adoption caseworker placed a sexually aggressive 12-year-old boy into their home without telling the family he had been diagnosed as a “psychopath”.
That amount is on top of US$4.8 million awarded to the Island County parents of the children by a state court jury in January 2017 after finding the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) negligent in its decision in 2013 to adopt into their home a violent and deeply troubled boy identified in court documents by the initials WS.
According to those documents, WS has since been convicted in juvenile court of molesting the other children in the home, ages 12, 6 and 5 at the time, and is a registered sex offender. One of those children was also an adopted foster child.
The US$3 million settlement, approved by US District Judge Richard Jones, will be divided between the three children and the family’s attorneys, Connelly Law Offices, according to the documents.
The lawsuit alleged that WS’ DSHS caseworker, Katherine Graff, had explained that WS suffered from a series of emotional problems that included acting out and physical violence, but did not disclose that a previous caseworker had documented extremely aggressive sexual behaviour by the child and had recommended a “sexually aggressive youth” evaluation.
Moreover, according to pleadings in the lawsuit, Graff in February 2013 was provided with information from a neuropsychologist that the boy was a potentially dangerous psychopath, but placed him in the family’s home in April without passing on the information.