Sexual Abuse – Foster Parents and Caretakers of Children
Tragically, children taken into foster care, shelters and other facilities can be sexually abused by their caretakers or those entrusted to protect them. Because the harm caused by sexual abuse and the traumatization of being removed from home is extraordinary, Justice for Kids attorneys fight to make recoveries that can be placed in trust to provide help for these children throughout their lives.
- Firm Sues Florida Dept. of Children & Families, Settles Negligence Case for $14.26 Million. Child abuse attorney Howard Talenfeld filed a civil rights complaint in federal court on behalf of 19 children against nine Florida Department of Children and Families employees who were responsible for the children’s adoption and/or investigations of the abuse allegations. The children were allowed to be adopted and lived in various locations with her between Orlando and Gainesville, FL even though there had been a prior verified abuse report against the mother. The children were victims of bizarre punishments and beatings throughout their childhood. The State of Florida settled all of the Plaintiffs’ claims, including a negligence claim in Alachua County against DCF, for a total of $14.26 million. Read the case here
- Seven-Year-Old Boy Sexually Abused by Foster Parent Recovers Undisclosed Settlement. A 7-year-old boy was sexually abused by his foster father after two Broward County, FL child welfare groups failed to conduct proper background checks on the man. Read more from the Sun-Sentinel.
- Case Against Private Agency That Owned and Operated an Emergency Shelter For Failure To Protect Child From Sexual Assault By Male Employee. Florida child abuse attorneys resolved a case on behalf of a 16-year-old girl against a private agency that owned and operated an emergency shelter in Palm Beach County, FL for failure to protect the child from sexual assault by a male shelter employee. The case resolved pre-suit for an undisclosed amount. Read more from the Sun-Sentinel. Read more from the Palm Beach Post.
- Florida Child Abuse Attorneys File Suit in Palm Beach County on Behalf of Foster Child Against Private Child Welfare Providers & Emergency Shelter For Failure To Protect Child From Sexual Abuse and Child-on-Child Sexual Abuse. The case resolved for an undisclosed amount. One of the defendants did not have the minimum amount of insurance required by statute governing privatization of foster care and related services. Justice for Kids attorneys then filed suit against that agency’s insurance broker for failure to procure the statutorily required insurance coverage. That case also resolved for an undisclosed amount.
- DeJejus -Lawsuit Filed in Broward County Against DCF and Private Community-Based Agencies Located in Polk County and Volusia County on Behalf of a Child Who Had Been Sexually Abused By His Parents and Exposed To Domestic Violence. The child was reunified with his biological parents despite warnings that he was at significant risk of harm. The father drove the family to Broward County, FL, where he shot a man and held the family hostage. Thisresulted in a SWAT standoff during which time the father stabbed the child, stabbed the child’s non-verbal autistic brother to death, stabbed the mother, and stabbed himself to death. The case resolved against DCF and several private child welfare agencies for undisclosed amounts. Read more below.
- Two Brothers Placed in Brevard County With a Pedophile Who Was a Known Gambler and Had Multiple Arrests, Convictions & Was Later Permitted to Adopt them. They were sexually victimized by the pedophile. This case settled for an undisclosed amount, which permitted these children to receive the education they need and appropriate services for the remainder of their lives.
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