Lawsuit: Boys Home of the South

The same child also was sexually assaulted by an older boy at the group home, according to the suit, which was filed July 29 in Greenville County.

The Boys Home of the South, which sits on a 127-acre tract off U.S. 25 in Greenville County about 10 miles east of Belton, closed earlier this year. Its closing was dictated under terms of the settlement of a federal lawsuit involving the alleged sexual abuse of an 11-year-old boy.

“The Boys Home of the South was truly a house of horrors,” said Robert Butcher, one of the attorneys who handled the federal suit that was settled in April.

The suit filed last week seeks financial damages related to permanent physical and emotional harm for a child identified only as “John Roe” in court papers. The list of defendants named in the suit includes the South Carolina Department of Social Services, the Boys Home of the South and several of its former staff members.

Department of Social Services spokeswoman Marilyn Matheus issued a response to the suit Tuesday night.
“Making sure our foster children are placed in the best situations possible and in safe and loving environments will always be one of our top priorities,” she said. “The allegations made in this recently filed lawsuit are said to have occurred almost a decade ago and DSS will release its official response when it is completed and submitted to the court.”

According to the suit, the child was removed from his home in 1998 and placed in foster care under the social services department’s supervision. The department eventually placed the child at the Boys Home of the South, the suit says.

The suit says the child was sexually attacked by a house parent at the Boys Home of the South on at least seven occasions in 2004 and 2005. According to the suit, the child told staff members at the Boys Home of the South and his state social worker about the attacks.

In an interview Tuesday, Abbeville lawyer Thomas Hite III, who is one of the lawyers representing the child, said the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office conducted a criminal investigation of the house parent but no charges were filed.

What happened to the child at the Boys Home of the South is sickening, Hite said. “It gave me nightmares,” he said.

Hite is running as a Democrat for the South Carolina House of Representatives District 11 seat now held by Abbeville Republican Craig Gagnon. The district includes portions of southern Anderson County.

Hite said his involvement with the previous lawsuit involving sexual abuse at the Boys Home of the South contributed to his decision to seek elected office. The need for reforms at the social services department is one of the key issues in his campaign.

“The lack of supervision of DSS and our foster care system has allowed too many children to slip through the cracks and be abused,” said Hite in a statement announcing the filing of the latest lawsuit against the Boys Home of the South. “Lawsuits can shed some light on this abhorrent situation, and can seek redress for some specific case of abuse, but this statewide epidemic can only be addressed by a complete overhaul of our welfare system beginning with the failed leadership in Columbia.”

Hite is not the only Democrat who has seized on problems at the state social services department as a campaign issue. Lillian Koller, who was chosen by Republican Gov. Nikki Haley in 2011 to run the agency, resigned in June after coming under criticism over the deaths of several children and concerns that many of the department’s employees were burdened with unmanageable caseloads.

The Democratic Governors Association has been airing a TV ad featuring a former department employee who accuses Haley of protecting her career instead of South Carolina’s children. Democrats also are calling attention to a report that aired on ABC World News earlier this week. The report included comments from four unidentified whistle-blowers who said the South Carolina social services department is sending too many foster children back to abusive parents or caregivers.”