How Could You? Hall of Shame-Walter Scott UPDATED and Lawsuit

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, foster father “Walter Scott, 59, was arrested last year after he allegedly raped his 7-year-old foster daughter on two separate occasions.”

“Nadeem Bezar, an attorney representing the girl, told NBC10 that the child reported the incident to a social worker as well as her biological mother. According to Bezar, the Presbyterian Children’s Village, the foster care placement agency, failed to investigate the allegation. Bezar also says Scott was not arrested until five months after the first alleged rape.

Bezar later filed a lawsuit against Presbyterian on the child’s behalf. A spokesperson for Presbyterian denied the allegations against the agency.

Scott appeared in court on Monday where he was told he would stand trial. NBC10’s Harry Hairston tried to interview Scott after his court appearance but was pushed back by his son and told to “get out of his face.”

Scott’s trial is scheduled for early next year. Kelly Harrell, the prosecuting attorney, tells NBC10 three child witnesses will testify against him.

Scott is currently out on $100,000 bail.

The Department of Public Welfare is the state agency that licenses foster homes. A spokesperson from the agency told NBC10 that any foster parent accused of abusing children is automatically placed on a list preventing them from contacting foster children.”

Man Accused of Raping Foster Daughter[NBC Philadelphia 4/28/14]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

 

Update: A Search of Pennsylvania Court records shows that a trial has been scheduled for 1/29/15.

Update 2:“As a Philadelphia man accused of raping his 7-year-old foster daughter prepares for his trial, the girl’s lawyer is speaking out, claiming the placement agency put the girl in the home after the man was accused of inappropriately touching another child.

Walter Scott was arrested in 2013 after he allegedly raped his 7-year-old foster daughter on two separate occasions. He was charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child and is currently out on $100,000 bond. His trial is set to begin Thursday and he has denied all allegations against him.

The girl’s attorney, Nadeem Bezar, told NBC10 Children Protective Service investigators were looking into a complaint only days before the Presbyterian Children’s Village, the foster care placement agency now known as the Village, placed the girl in Scott’s care.

“Presbyterian Children’s Village has admitted that the child should not have been placed in the respite home in February, 2013,” Bezar said. “Another child had complained that Mr. Scott had patted her backside and touched her a few times so she felt uncomfortable.”

According to Bezar, the Village failed to investigate the allegation. Bezar also said Scott was not arrested until five months after the first alleged rape.

Bezar later filed a lawsuit against Presbyterian on the child’s behalf. A spokesperson for Presbyterian denied the allegations against the agency when we first covered this story last year.

Bezar showed NBC10 a document, written Feb. 19, 2013, stating a case manager for the Village informed the Department of Human Services that “there will be no other children placed in the home.” The letter referred to another child who accused Scott of inappropriate behavior inside his home on Feb. 18.

Bezar told NBC10 the girl was still placed in Scott’s home on Feb. 20 despite the report.

“When you have a system that’s supposed to stop placement in a home because it’s under investigation and you go through that system and don’t abide by it, it makes us all nervous,” Bezar said.

NBC10 reached out to the Department of Human Services but they had no comment. NBC10 also reached out to the Village regarding the most recent allegations from Bezar.

We are unable to comment because of federal and state privacy laws as well as the fact that this is an ongoing legal matter,” a spokesperson wrote.

Bezar said that what happened to the young girl was a systemic failure.

It is a stop sign that not just one person ran through but three, four, five people ran through,” he said. “If our system is supposed to protect these children then you better go out and make sure you have the right people that are sitting and taking care of them.”

Bezar told NBC10 he plans on filing a motion seeking punitive damages against the Village.

The Department of Public Welfare is the state agency that licenses foster homes. A spokesperson from the agency told NBC10 that any foster parent accused of abusing children is automatically placed on a list preventing them from contacting foster children. “

Attorney: Rape of Foster Girl Caused by Systemic Failure
[NBC Philadelphia 1/28/15 by  Harry Hairston and David Chang]

Update 3: A search of Pennsylvania Court records shows that he is awaiting trial.

Update 4: “A Montgomery County foster care agency must pay $5.35 million in damages for repeatedly placing a young girl in a foster home where she was sexually assaulted, according to litigators.

Lawyers with Kline and Specter, P.C. said that Presbyterian Children’s Village, based in twice placed the child, who was seven-years-old at the time, in a home where she was sexually abused.

A Philadelphia jury ruled in a civil trial Friday that Presbyterian must pay $5 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages to the victim.

“This verdict is a message that child safety must be protected,” said Nadeem Bezar, who tried the plaintiff’s case with Emily Marks, both attorneys with Kline & Specter, PC, of Philadelphia. “This is a message from the jury to PCV and all foster care agencies that they must be diligent.”

In November 2012, the child was placed in the care of Deborah and Walter Scott for three days, litigators said. When she was moved to a new foster home, she reported the abuse to her new foster mother.

Despite knowing about the report, Presbyterian continued to place children with the Scotts, even after hearing another child make the same allegations. They then placed the original child with the Scotts for a second time in late February of 2013.

The child reported abuse for a second time, and officials soon were able to identify several more victims.

Walter Scott has since pleaded guilty to sexual abuse.”

Main Line Child Care Agency Must Pay $5.35 Million In Child Sex Abuse Case [Patch 10/28/16 by Justin Heinze]
Update 5:“Walter Ola Scott, 63, has been inmate #MK5319 since his 2015 conviction on multiple charges of sexually abusing children, and is currently serving a 20-year sentence at the state correctional facility in Graterford.

But new details are only now coming to light about what exactly transpired inside Scott’s West Philly home, which was once a government-sanctioned foster home for children in need.

“It was a house of horrors,” said attorney Nadeem Bezar, of Kline & Spector P.C., who last week along with co-counsel Emily Marks won an $11 million verdict on behalf of Scott’s adopted daughter, who came forward in 2015 after she saw Scott charged with abusing other children.

“The Scotts actually adopted this child,” Bezar said. “It’s just that much more disgusting and torturous, to say, ‘I want to take you, I’m going to give you my name,’ while this man is doing these horrible things.”

The victim, now 23, was 6 in 2000 when she was placed in Scott’s home. By the age of 10, she was had been raped by Scott, Bezar said.

The victim only remembers three separate assaults, Bezar said, and survived 12 more years in Scott’s Florence Street home before reaching the age of 18.

She also experienced emotional abuse from Scott and his wife during her time there, Bezar said, at some points packing her possessions and threatening to throw her out of their home.

“That was downright cruel,” Bezar said. “That was known to the agency.”

Bezar said despite “obvious tension between the child and her foster mother,” physical punishment and signs of abuse, and requests by the victim to move to another home, she was adopted by the Scotts in 2005 with the approval of Bethanna, the foster care agency which originally placed the victim with Scott. The agency responded in a statement that they had “no knowledge of these terrible incidents.”

“Bethanna is disappointed by the verdict, but more saddened by the abuse inflicted on the real victim in this case. We applaud her courage in coming forward.  Our prayers and hope are for her continued healing,” the agency said in a statement.

“Bethanna was assigned 10 percent of the verdict,” they said. “Unfortunately, child abuse is all too often hidden, and some sexual predators have mastered their façade and skillfully obscure their abuse. This reality is a source of great frustration and fuels our passion to always be vigilant in our work to ensure the safety, permanency and well-being of children. While we cannot comment on all of the details of this case, as litigation remains ongoing, we wish our community to understand that our agency and staff had no knowledge whatsoever of these terrible incidents, which happened over a decade ago.”

But Bezar claimed staff should have been aware, saying social workers missed signs of sexual abuse in his client, including bed-wetting, regression in speech and behavior, and a sexual “acting out” incident involving touching a boy.

The jury ordered the $11 million verdict ($10 million compensatory and $1 million punitive damages) against Scott, who is not believed to have substantial assets, and Bethanna, which since 2015 has been a “community umbrella agency” (CUA) contracted by Philadelphia’ Department of Human Services (DHS) to provide foster care and other social services. In DHS’ recent public CUA “scorecard,” Bethanna, which is licensed by the state, received the worst score of all 10 CUAs: a grade of a “D,” and a ranking of 10th.

“Philadelphia DHS monitors all CUAs for quality of child welfare practice,” DHS spokeswoman Heather Keafer said via email. “If CUAs do not show improvement over time, then Philadelphia DHS will evaluate their ability to continue contracting with Philadelphia DHS to provide child welfare case management.”

Keafer noted that the state’s Department of Human Services licenses foster homes and is responsible for investigating allegations of wrongdoing in those homes.

“We are saddened to learn about this incident which occurred in 2000,” Keafer said via email about the recent case. “When Philadelphia DHS is alerted by the state about issues with a foster home, we immediately take the appropriate steps to ensure the safety of children in its care. We strive for quality and believe that all children need to be placed in safe homes.”

Bezar previously won a $3.5 million verdict for another girl who was sexually assaulted twice by Scott at age 7. She was placed there for two separate, temporary stays by Presbyterian Children’s Village, despite reporting being abused after the first stay.

Bezar is considering filing suit on behalf of another victim in the house, he said, but declined to share details about that case.

“Walter Scott was convicted of abusing three girls. The pattern of, ‘Come here, be quiet, don’t tell anybody, here’s some money for snacks or treats,’ was consistent throughout,” Bezar said.

“Anything involving Walter Scott should just be put to rest. Nobody needs to relive this.”

Foster kid placed in West Philly ‘house of horrors’ wins $11M in lawsuit

[Metro 11/20/17 by Sam Newhouse]