Lawsuit: South Carolina DSS

“A Midlands couple who separated last year has sued the S.C. Department of Social Services, alleging the agency placed sexually active children in their home in 2012 without disclosing the children’s history of abuse.

The couple claims those children, in turn, sexually abused their biological children.

In the 105-page complaint filed Friday in Charleston County, Corey and Tami Mitchell allege they “endured a nightmare and the breakup of their family due to the actions and inactions” of the state agency.

It started in 2012, when the Mitchells agreed to assume custody of four siblings because they had nowhere else to go, according to the suit.

Their mother was deemed unfit because she abused drugs. Their father refused to submit to a drug test. Their maternal grandmother was dead. They had lived for several months with their maternal grandfather but they had been sexually abused in that home by teenagers and young adults, according to allegations made in the complaint.

“We prayed really hard about it,” Corey Mitchell told The Post and Courier. They agreed, at the time, they should bring the four children into their home.

DSS removed the children from their grandfather and placed them with the Mitchells, but the lawsuit claims the agency failed to treat the children for the sexual abuse they suffered. Furthermore, the Mitchells said they had no idea what they were getting into. The children’s caseworker did not explain that the siblings, ranging in age from 2 to 8 at the time, had been abused and that some of them were sexually active.

“We were never told by anyone, ever,” Corey Mitchell said.

Agency officials did not immediately respond to a message about the case.

Some of the children eventually revealed in a forensic evaluation that they had been exposed to pornography in their grandfather’s home and had been taught to masturbate while they lived there. They continued to engage in this behavior after they moved in with the Mitchells.

Almost immediately, some of the children started displaying inappropriate sexual behavior in their new home, the lawsuit alleges.

The Mitchells’ biological son said one of the older girls touched him inappropriately. Their biological daughter disclosed that one of the children made her commit a sex act. The children allegedly engaged in intercourse, too.

The Mitchells repeatedly petitioned DSS for help but were ignored, they said. One caseworker reportedly told the them  DSS would charge the couple with abuse and abandonment if they tried to send the children back into state custody.

They pleaded to a Family Court judge and state lawmakers for help. In a letter to several legislators in 2014, the Mitchells said one of the children had been urinating and spreading his feces throughout their home. Other allegations were that he dismembered a dead bird and gouged its eyes out with one of their kitchen knives, then placed the knife back in the kitchen drawer.

While the couple says the male clearly showed signs that he had been sexually abused, DSS ignored them, they wrote. An excerpt from that letter was included in the complaint filed Friday.

“The Mitchells had to sleep in front of doors in a common area to keep sexually reactive children at bay at night,” the complaint describes. “They slept this way for several years.”

The Mitchells are suing DSS, the agency’s former and current director, and several employees. Their biological children and the four children who were placed with the Mitchells are also named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

Three of those four children have been removed from the Mitchells’ home. Corey Mitchell said they have been placed in therapeutic foster care but doubts they are receiving any treatment for sexual abuse.

“It’s horrible. It’s unbelievable,” he said. “It breaks my heart to say it, because there are so many children who need help.”

The couple separated last year. Corey Mitchell said stress overwhelmed their 22-year marriage. ”

South Carolina family sues DSS, claims agency placed sexually active children in their home[The Post and Courier 1/9/17 by Lauren Sasser]

REFORM Puzzle Piece