PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Lawyers for 11 young children who reportedly suffered sexual abuse at a Salem, Ore., foster home have filed nearly $23 million in lawsuits against the state’s Department of Human Services.
The lawsuits represent one of the most sweeping cases brought against the state child-welfare agency over abuse by one foster parent, The Oregonian newspapereported.
An agency spokesman referred questions to the Oregon Department of Justice, which declined comment Monday.
James Earl Mooney was sentenced last year to 50 years in prison after pleading guilty to five counts of first-degree sodomy. His wife wasn’t charged with any wrongdoing. The couple has divorced.
The newspaper says 50 babies and toddlers lived in the foster home from 2007 to 2011.
The molestations came to light in April 2011, the newspaper reports, after one of the foster children moved from the home and told a prospective adoptive parent that Mooney had sexually abused her in the shower.
DHS spokesman Gene Evans said he couldn’t discuss specifics, but did talk about department policies that allowed Mooney and his wife to become foster parents.
- Posted June 26, 2013
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State sued over foster abuse in home
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