How Could You? Hall of Shame-Raymond Blouin and Susan Blouin and Philip Paquette UPDATED Now Lawsuit Now Bittersweet Justice

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 Oxford, Massachusetts, former foster parent and convicted felon Ray Blouin is being investigated “in a case that has been hidden for decades.

Ray Blouin tried to duck 5 Investigates’ questions last summer by claiming he did not remember sexually assaulting two young foster girls in his Oxford home in the early 2000s.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Blouin said, despite the fact that he was charged and convicted in the past for the sexual assaults.

Blouin, a former foster father, is already a registered sex offender — after pleading guilty to those crimes.

Now, 5 Investigates has discovered new allegations of more abuse.

In the latest case, John Williams told investigators that when he was a young foster child, he was neglected by his foster parents — forced to sit naked with another foster child — and was fondled by Blouin, who put his hands in his underwear and touched him on multiple occasions.

“I would consider everything that every child went through at the Blouin home was considered some type of sexual abuse,” Williams said.

Williams and his younger brother, Nathan, told 5 Investigates they were beaten, put in dog cages for hours and tortured by Blouin’s wife, who is a registered nurse, and her boyfriend, who moved into the home after her husband’s conviction in the earlier cases.

“I’ll never forget … all the times that I was hog tied, tied up in a diaper or thrown into a dog cage,” Williams said.

Interviews with several of the foster children who once lived there uncovered state and court records showing warning signs of abuse and red flags that were missed.

“Victims who are children are the most vulnerable,” said WCVB legal analyst Greg Henning.

Henning said that because Williams had the courage to come forward with allegations that are sexual in nature, prosecutors can move forward, even though the alleged crime happened so long ago, unlike physical abuse and most other crimes that have a shorter statute of limitations.

“Until you’re a victim, until you’re somebody that’s gone through it, you can’t understand why it might take so long,” Henning said. “So even though there’s been 21 years that passed, when people hear these victims testify, when they watch them, when they understand it personally, you can see why it’s taken so long for them to come forward.”

“Something like this affects you forever,” Williams said.

When 5 Investigates called Blouin for comment for this story, he hung up on us. He is scheduled to be arraigned next week on a charge off indecent assault and battery on a child under 14.

Two other foster children from the home have also disclosed additional abuse as part of the ongoing investigation.”

Former foster parent criminally charged again

[WVCB 8/20/19 by Kathy Curran]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update: “A former foster father, already convicted of sexually abusing young girls, faced a judge again Friday in the wake of 5 Investigates’ exposure of horrific abuse inside a state-licensed foster home that had been hidden for decades.

Raymond Blouin, 65, of Oxford, kept his head down and didn’t answer 5 Investigates’ questions as he walked into Dudley District Court on Friday morning to be arraigned on a charge of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14.

“Did you sexually assault your foster son John (Williams)?” 5 Investigates’ Kathy Curran asked him. “According to the police report it says this happened on multiple occasions. Did you think this would all stay hidden?”

The charge stems from a new criminal investigation opened by the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office after our reporting uncovered years of alleged abuse inside the Blouin home during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Investigators began interviewing some of the former foster children who are now adults, and this is the first new criminal charge in the case.

According to a police report, John Williams told investigators he was fondled by Ray Blouin multiple times, neglected by his foster parents, beaten and forced to sit with another foster child while naked.

The incident for which Blouin is charged happened during the late 1990s.

The man accused is already a registered sex offender after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting two other young foster children back in 2003.

“I would consider everything that every child went through at the Blouin home was considered some type of sexual abuse,” John Williams told 5 Investigates in an earlier interview.

Williams and his younger brother, Nathan, were placed in the Blouin’s foster home in Oxford when they were just 7 and 3 years old.

5 Investigates has been working with John, Nathan and five other survivors of the Blouin home to uncover thousands of records documenting the failures of the state’s foster care system and a trail of abuse that lasted for years. There are even allegations of abuse at the hands of Blouin’s wife, who is a registered nurse, and her boyfriend, who moved into the home after her husband’s conviction in the earlier cases.

The boys say they were beaten, thrown in dog cages and tortured.

Blouin’s lawyer said he would have no comment, and Ray didn’t answer other questions as he walked into the court house.

“Anything you want to say to the foster children? They were fragile children who needed to be loved and nurtured, did they get that?” Curran asked.

Williams was not in the courtroom Friday.

“I’ll never know what it’s like to be a kid, but I do know, I know what children need,” he said in the earlier interview. “It’s what we never got when we were young. Love. Care. Compassion. Empathy.”

Blouin was ordered not to have any contact with the alleged victim in this case and to have no unsupervised contact with any children under the age of 16. The criminal investigation into what happened at the Blouin home is ongoing.”

Former foster father arraigned on abuse charge

[WCVB 9/20/19 by Kathy Curran]

Update 2: “A former foster mother who is a registered nurse was arrested and a warrant was issued for her former boyfriend in a horrific case of child abuse uncovered by 5 Investigates.

Susan Blouin, 61, of Oxford, was arraigned Monday in Dudley District Court on a charge of indecent assault and battery. According to court records, Blouin sexually assaulted the victim, who was one of her former foster children, made the child walk around naked and wear diapers until the age of 10 and sometimes made the child sleep in a dog cage.

Blouin kept her head covered by a hood as she left court and did not answer any questions.

“Did you abuse any of those children? Anything you want to say?” 5 Investigates’ Kathy Curran asked.

When 5 Investigates approached Blouin in the summer of 2018, she said the abuse allegations were false.

“Leave me alone!” she yelled at Curran.

“(Do) you want to talk about the abuse?” Curran asked.

“Someone call the cops!” she yelled.

During the past two years, 5 Investigates has been working with the former foster children raised by Susan Blouin, her husband Ray Blouin; and, to some extent, Susan Blouin’s former boyfriend, Philip Paquette, to expose the horrible abuse, combing through thousands of pages of records from courts and the state Department of Children and Families, then called the Department of Social Services.

Paquette is accused of raping the same child twice and threatening to kill the victim if they told anyone. Paquette had little to say when we showed up to speak with him in 2018.

“Do you have anything to say for yourself? They were innocent kids,” Curran said.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m sorry,” he replied.

Paquette is facing two charges of statutory rape of a child.

As part of the new criminal investigation, Ray Blouin was charged earlier this year with indecent assault and battery.

Susan Blouin was released from custody after her arraignment. She was ordered to stay away from the victim and not have any unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16. She and Paquette faced charges years ago related to this case, but, after they served probation, the charges were dismissed.”

New charges issued in foster family abuse case

[WCVB 12/3/19 by Kathy Curran]

“A Rhode Island man was arraigned on child rape charges in Dudley District Court Thursday following allegations that multiple foster children were physically and sexually abused inside an Oxford home for years.

Philip Paquette, 59, is accused of twice forcing a foster child to perform oral sex on him nearly 20 years ago. The child, now incarcerated, told investigators that Paquette also made him eat dog feces and forced him to eat peanut butter sandwiches he believed had been topped with a bodily fluid.

The abuse allegedly took place in the early 2000s inside 7 Pleasant Court, where authorities allege several children were sexually assaulted, forced into cages and beaten.

Paquette is the third person to be charged with abuse after a WCVB-TV investigation into allegations made by multiple former foster children.

The home at 7 Pleasant Court is owned by Susan E. Blouin, Paquette’s former girlfriend. Blouin and her husband, Raymond Blouin, have also been charged.

Susan Blouin, a 61-year-old registered nurse, was arraigned Monday on a charge of indecent assault and battery on a child under age 14. Her husband was charged with the same crime in September.

The charges represent the second time Raymond Blouin, 65, has been charged with sexually assaulting foster children at 7 Pleasant Court. He was convicted in 2003 of indecent assault and battery on a person under age 14 and indecent assault and battery on a person over age 14.

Blouin received three years of probation after pleading guilty, court records show.

“I can not believe that the man that adopted me could actually touch me and do what he did in the shower,” one of his victims wrote in her victim impact statement. “It also hurts to see nothing being done to him, like jail time.”

The other victim wrote in her statement, “I feel lonely that I don’t have a father anymore. I also wish that I had a family that actually cares about me and loves me.”

According to court documents filed Thursday, Susan Blouin kept raising foster children after she and Raymond Blouin “split up,” at which time she began dating Paquette.

It was at that time, authorities allege, that Paquette began to engage in the conduct that led to Thursday’s charges.

Police in a court document alleged that Paquette twice forced a foster child to perform oral sex on him, threatening to kill him if he told anyone after the first assault.

When the second assault was cut short by Susan Blouin returning home, the former foster child said Susan Blouin asked him if Paquette had “made him do anything sexual,” which he denied for fear of his life.

In addition to alleging the sexual assault, the former foster child — now an inmate at Souza-Baranowski prison — alleged he was regularly forced to remain naked and was routinely fed dog food for breakfast.

He described Paquette as “even more sadistic” than Raymond and Susan Blouin.

Judge Michael P. Welsh ordered Paquette held on $15,000 bail. Paquette, who did not qualify for a court-appointed lawyer, had not yet hired an attorney to represent him as of Thursday morning.

Thursday’s arraignment is not the first time Paquette was charged in relation to foster children at 7 Pleasant Court.

Dudley District Court records show he was accused of hitting foster children with a belt and recklessly endangering children there in 2004. He faced 12 counts in total, including four counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

All the charges were dismissed in 2005, court records indicate, after a prosecutor reported state social workers “would rather not have” the children testify and said they’d been placed in stable foster homes.

Susan Blouin was released on personal recognizance Monday and is next due in court Jan. 24.

She is accused of pulling a foster child between the ages of 7 and 10 around a room by his testicles and beating him while he was naked after an incident in which he brought shotgun shells to school.

The former foster child could be the same person to make allegations against Paquette, as he was interviewed on the same day at the same prison, according to court records, and is listed in both cases as being between 3 and 10 years old during his time at the foster home.

The man told authorities that what happened to him traumatized him his entire life. He alleged Susan Blouin “tortured and abused” him and other foster kids in the home.

Specifically, he alleged she made him walk around naked “all day and night,” wear diapers until he was 10 even though he could use the toilet, physically abused him with and without weapons and made him sleep in a dog cage.

Michael Erlich, Susan Blouin’s lawyer, said Thursday in a telephone interview that his client intends to fight the case. He noted that his client’s accuser is prison, and said it his understanding the man is facing about two decades behind bars for the crime of child rape.

Susan Blouin was fired from her job at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton Wednesday night, the hospital confirmed, shortly after WCVB ran a story about her employment there. The TV station further reported that she had formerly worked at UMass Memorial Medical Center.

In a statement Thursday, the hospital said she has not been part of UMass Memorial “for more than a decade,” and offered no additional comment, citing policy to not comment on former employees.

Raymond Blouin was released on personal recognizance Sept. 20, records show, after a former foster child accused him of abuse in July.

The former foster child alleged Raymond Blouin would lock him and his brother into a dog cage, put duct tape over their hands, ankles and eyes and “ask Susan to have sex with him [Raymond].”

The child, who said he lived at the home from between ages 7 and 13, further told authorities that he had problems wetting the bed, and that Raymond Blouin, when checking to see if he’d wet the bed, felt his body more than necessary, including by touching his genital area.

Adam D. Schmaelzle, Raymond Blouin’s lawyer, said in a telephone interview Thursday that his client denies the allegations completely and looks forward to his day in court.

When a reporter noted that the man had pleaded guilty to similar charges in 2003, Schmaelzle replied that the alleged victims from that case are different, and reiterated his client’s denials in the new case.

The foster child who accused Raymond Blouin of sexual assault also told investigators that Susan Blouin forced him and another foster child to “stare at each other naked” as punishment for something.

“Susan then took a brown dog leash and brutely (sic) beat both him and (the other child) all over their body,” Oxford police alleged.

The Blouins came to court together Monday, WCVB reported, and did not respond to the news station’s requests for comment.

Worcester Probate Court records indicate both filed for divorce in 2003, but did not follow through.

Records on file in Dudley District Court show Susan Blouin applied for a restraining order against Raymond Blouin in 2002, alleging that her daughter told her he had touched her and rubbed her while she was showering.

“He even offered her $5 to let him do it,” Susan Blouin wrote. “Having been hit by this man before I am in fear for my life and that of my children.”

Dudley District Court records show Raymond Blouin was criminally charged in 2001 after his wife accused him of slamming her head into a countertop.

A charge of assault and battery was continued without a finding for one year, the records show, and dismissed after a period of probation. A charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (countertop) was dropped.”

Man charged with child rape at Oxford foster home

[Worcester Telegram 12/5/19 by Brad Petrishen]

Update 3:“A former foster family and the state were sued today by four former foster children who lived in their Oxford home, charging the family with subjecting them to horrendous physical and sexual abuse and accusing the state Department of Children and Families of ignoring red flags for more than 10 years.

“This is a case where DCF dropped off foster children, some of the most vulnerable people in our society, in a house with predators who preyed on them for years,” their attorney, Erica Brody told 5 Investigates.

The suit, filed in Middlesex Superior Court in Lowell, details in excruciating detail the abuse endured by the children, as well as the numerous times that social workers and their supervisors were alerted to potential abuse, but let the children remain in the home.

The suit is the latest in a string of developments that began with 5 Investigates’ reporting on the abuse allegations in the home, detailed in state and court records, that had been kept secret for years.

Earlier this year, foster parents Raymond and Susan Blouin were each charged with indecent assault and battery for incidents involving two biological brothers whom they had fostered and, like the others, eventually adopted.

Another adult in the home, Sue Blouin’s former boyfriend, Philip Paquette, was charged last month with child rape. All have pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges.

The civil suit says that as early as 1989, the Department of Social Services, now called the Department of Children and Families, was warned that the Blouins were “physically abusing children in their care.”

For a nearly two -year period ending in October 2004, there were at least 11 reports alleging abuse — known as 51As — in the Blouin home. Nine of them were supported, meaning the state found reasonable cause to believe a child suffered abuse or neglect by a caretaker, yet it wasn’t until October 2004 that the last child was removed from the home.

“The state didn’t believe these children,” Brody said. “They didn’t look through the home to see if people were being kept in dog cages. They didn’t protect these children.”

An attorney for Sue Blouin declined to comment. Her husband, Ray, denies the criminal charge and says the charge was made to help the lawsuit.

“We believe those allegations are weak and unfounded and we do expect a successful outcome in that matter,” Ray Blouin’s attorney, Adam Schmaelzle, said.

A spokesperson for DCF would only say they haven’t seen the lawsuit yet.

While most of the abuse allegations center around the children who were adopted, the Blouins also served as temporary foster parents to many others — more than 40, according to the suit.

“This is about making sure this never happens to another child,” Brody said. “We are calling on (Gov.) Charlie Baker, DCF and the commonwealth of Massachusetts to make sure this never happens to another child ever again.””

Lawsuit filed over Oxford foster home abuse

[WCVB 12/20/19  by Kathy Curran]

Update 4:“New criminal charges were filed Friday against the foster parents at the center a horrific child abuse case in Oxford uncovered by 5 Investigates.

Susan and Ray Blouin, already facing criminal charges in their role as longtime foster parents, have now been hit with 36 new charges connected to their dog-breeding business, including animal cruelty, dog tethering or confinement, and running an unlicensed kennel.

Photographs obtained by 5 Investigates show dogs with fur loss, overgrown nails, serious eye problems and other health issues. Those photographs were taken by Oxford police in December when police and animal control officers executed a search warrant at the Blouins’ home.
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Twenty-five dogs were removed from the Blouins’ home last month. Police said then that the dogs were found in unsanitary conditions and some were covered in feces.

Police said the second floor of the Blouin’s house was crowded with dogs in cages with no access to water bowls. Investigators said their home had a strong odor of urine and feces.
One photograph shows a dog named Lily who, according to police, had engorged mammary glands from not being allowed to properly nurse her litter.

The conditions found inside the Blouin home differ greatly from what they have posted on their “Bella Bulldogges” Facebook page, which is filled with cute videos and pictures of puppies. One post tells of dogs named Buster and Ginger being pampered at a spa day.

Now the former foster parents accused of horrific child abuse are barred by the court from having any new animals in their Oxford home.

Police also found microchipping equipment for pets in the Blouin’s home. While the state has no regulations against pet owners microchipping their animals, regulators urge pet owners to have a licensed veterinarian perform the procedure.

In her role as a foster mother, Susan Blouin is accused of sexually abusing a young foster child decades ago. Ray Blouin is currently charged with indecent assault and battery of a foster child under 14. Susan Blouin’s lawyer had no comment on the new charges. Ray Blouin is due back in court in a few weeks on the sexual assault charge, at which time he is expected to be arraigned on the animal cruelty charges.”

Foster parents already accused of child abuse now charged with animal cruelty

[WCVB 1/24/2020 by Kathy Curran]

Update 5:“Sarah Fournier was placed in an Oxford foster home in 1990 and recalls the horror of being physically abused and witnessing the abuse of other children.

Her memory, backed up by state and other records obtained by 5 Investigates, shows the state was on notice that those foster parents — Sue and Ray Blouin — were accused of abuse more than 10 years before a whole other set of foster children were finally removed after making horrific allegations of their own.

“The Blouins, they just destroyed kids. They made their whole lives difficult. They just caused, in some cases, more trauma than where the kids came from in the first place,” Fournier said in an interview.

Fournier was placed with the Blouins in 1990 when she was just 9 years old, too afraid to tell anyone what was happening fearing retaliation.

But she eventually broke her silence. She remembers telling a social worker she and her little brother were being abused, hoping they would be removed from the Blouins’ Oxford home.

Instead, she says, the social worker told the Blouins — putting her at greater harm.

“Sue grabbed me by the neck and pushed me down the stairs and I hit the wall on the way down,” Fournier said. “The system failed because they were told and they didn’t listen.”

Fournier’s mother regained custody of her kids months later. During a therapy session afterward, in 1991, her revelations about what happened at the Blouin home finally triggered a report to the state’s child welfare services, then called the Department of Social Services, now called the Department of Children and Families.

A lawsuit says the state ignored allegations that the Blouins were abusing foster children in their care.

The therapist reported Fournier also expressed concerns about the treatment of her little brother and a young girl with special needs, saying the Blouins yelled at the child because she ate too slowly. But records show that social workers, after investigating, found no serious or abuse or neglect occurred.

The state concluded that “no serious abuse” occurred after investigating allegations Sarah Fournier made as a child in 1991.

No criminal charges were ever filed in relation to Fournier’s allegations, but a new filing in a civil suit related to the case points to Fournier’s 1991 disclosure and the abuse report, known as a 51A, saying it put DCF on notice that they were putting children in danger of serious physical and emotional harm by placing them in the Blouins’ home.

The state continued to cycle children through the home for years. 5 Investigates uncovered thousands of pages of records documenting alleged neglect and abuse of many other foster children in the home in the early 2000s. Survivors say they were sexually, mentally and physically abused, some locked in dog cages for hours.

In the wake of 5 Investigates’ reporting, the Blouins, along with Sue’s former boyfriend, Philip Paquette, were charged with sexually assaulting two of the children.

“I don’t know why they continued to place kids in that home, why they repeatedly ignored all the reports. I have no idea,” Fournier said. “Someone needs to hold DCF accountable.”

The trail of abuse weighs heavily on Fournier, now a mother of six, left wondering if the state had listened to her in 1991 about the damage and trauma to many other children that could have been prevented.

“No one protected them. And they endured it for long periods of time. It’s heartbreaking,” she said.

The Blouins did not respond to requests for comment.”

A foster child’s tale of abuse is discounted, and more abuse follows

[WCVB 9/24/2020 by Kathy Curran]

Update 6:“Now, as the state Department of Children and Families faces a lawsuit from four of Blouin’s alleged victims for failing to protect them, some say that state nursing officials share the blame in failing to hold Susan Blouin accountable, endangering the public for years.

Victims of Blouin’s alleged abuse were “appalled to learn that two different complaints to the nursing board were never investigated. What is a licensing board for if not to investigate complaints?” said Erica Brody, attorney for the four former foster children who are suing DCF, along with 17 individual social workers.

The foster mother of the alleged victim, who is not being identified to protect the victim’s privacy, said she was never even interviewed about her complaint.

“I didn’t understand why she continued to have a nurse’s license,” said the woman, who took in the foster child and his brother after they left the Blouin household in 2004. The former foster child, who had lived in what Brody called a “house of horrors” for six years, said he was choked, hit with belts, and locked in dog crates.

The state nursing board acknowledged receiving the two complaints and said it investigated both, “resulting in no further action against the licensee,” according to a written statement that offered no further explanation.

Board officials also confirmed that they summarily suspended her two nursing licenses — registered nurse and licensed practical nurse — after Blouin was charged in 2019. The board said it is moving to prevent her from ever renewing her license, but is awaiting the outcome of the pending criminal charges, the statement said.

Blouin and her husband, Raymond Blouin, allegedly abused countless foster children between 1987 and 2004, hitting and caging them, forcing them to perform sex acts, and threatening them with death if they told anyone. Phil Paquette, a sometime boyfriend of Susan Blouin, was also charged with child abuse involving the foster children.

But all three have faced relatively few consequences. Raymond Blouin pleaded guilty in 2003 to assault and battery on a person over 14 and assault and battery against a child and received two years’ probation. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender. Paquette received pre-trial probation in 2005 and the case against him was dismissed after six months.

The foster mother who complained in 2007 said her complaint was closed after the board ran a criminal record check and found no convictions in the public record. In fact, Susan Blouin had been charged in 2004 with four counts of reckless endangerment of a child, four counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and four counts of assault and battery.

But she successfully requested that her record be sealed after being sentenced to one year’s pre-trial probation in April 2005, which meant the case would be dismissed as long as she did not commit another crime during her probation. A DCF social worker agreed with the sentence, saying it would be better if the children did not have to testify.

In November 2004, she was also placed on the Registry of Alleged Perpetrators List by the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, then known as the Department of Social Services, meaning that no more foster children would be sent to her home.

But the nursing board took no action against Blouin even though, under its rules, the nursing board is allowed to summarily suspend a license for any reason if the board deems the licensee presents an “immediate and serious” public health threat. The board does not have to wait for a criminal conviction.

The 2017 complaint to the nursing board was closed, according to a terse note sent to the former foster child who complained, because the “investigation found no jurisdiction over the concerns detailed in your complaint.”

In 2019, after two of the victims came forward, the three were charged again. The Blouins are now facing one count of assault and battery on a child. Paquette was indicted on a charge of child rape. The charges are pending.

A spokesperson for St. Elizabeth’s, where she was working at the time, told media outlets in 2019 that Susan Blouin had been terminated. A spokesperson for UMass Memorial this week said only that Blouin hasn’t worked there in more than a decade.

“It’s an outrage that even though DCF determined [Susan Blouin] had tortured children, it didn’t alert all Massachusetts agencies that this person should not be licensed and have access to vulnerable kids,” said Brody.

Sarah Fournier, a former foster child who lived with her brother in the Blouin home for a brief but traumatic period in 1990, said she was giving birth to a son at UMass Memorial in 2005 when she saw Blouin working in the neonatal ICU and froze.

“My brother came to see my baby,” Fournier said. “He looked and saw her first. He recognized her and then I did. I ran to my nurse and told them — she’s not allowed to touch my child or go near him! Put that in my file. I was still terrified of her.”

Long after Fournier had left the Blouin home, her biological mother received threatening phone calls that were traced back to the Blouin home, according to a police report.

“I’m gonna get you, you whore,” said a woman, identified by Fournier’s mother as Susan Blouin, according to the police report. The pair were charged with five counts of threatening and harassing phone calls, but the case was dismissed.

The $40 million lawsuit, filed in Middlesex Superior Court, alleges sexual and physical abuse of the four children over a decade. The suit also accuses DCF of negligent supervision, and alleges civil rights violations by social workers. The suit also targets the Blouins and Paquette.

The Department of Children and Family Services readily acknowledged the “horrific” abuse that took place in the home of the Blouins. But their lawyers argued the social workers did nothing wrong.

“Social work is not an exact science,” wrote lawyers from the attorney general’s office representing the social workers, “and even good social work will sometimes fall short of DCF’s critical goal of keeping children in the commonwealth safe from harm. It removed the children remaining in the home as soon as it became lawfully possible to do so.”

The Blouins have consistently denied the charges. Paquette never responded to the complaint.

Susan Blouin’s lawyers declined comment. Neither the Blouins nor Paquette could be reached for comment.

This is not the first time that state licensing boards have faced criticism for failing to act against licensees charged with abuse. In 2019, after the former executive director of the Board of State Examiners of Electricians discovered that a Level 3 sex offender was working as a licensed electrician, officials discovered that several dozen convicted sex offenders held licenses for a variety of trades.

In 2020, the massage board came under scrutiny after applicants with phony or questionable credentials were able to get Massachusetts massage therapist licenses.

But those boards are overseen by the Division of Occupational Licensure, while the nursing board falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Health.”
State board allowed woman accused of abusing foster children to keep nursing license for more than a decade
[Boston Globe 3/22/23 by Andrea Estes]

Update 7:“Four former foster children who allegedly were abused by an Oxford couple will be paid $7 million under a settlement with the state.

Lawyers for the four announced the settlement on Aug. 11. One of the four died before the settlement was concluded.

The plaintiffs sued the Department of Children and Families Services and 17 DCF workers in Middlesex Superior Court, claiming their constitutional rights were violated by the organization’s indifference to the children’s treatment by Raymond and Susan Blouin.

The lawsuit alleged the children were locked in dog crates, forced to perform sex acts, submerged in ice baths to the point of drowning and threatened with death while under the couple’s care. The plaintiffs also allege that DCF — then known as the Department of Social Services — ignored multiple reports of abuse and was deliberately indifferent to the abuse allegedly occurring in the home.

The four lived with the couple in Oxford at various times from the late 1990s to 2004.

The Blouins and Susan Blouin’s boyfriend, Philip Paquette, were charged with child abuse in 2003 and 2004, according to The Boston Globe. Raymond Blouin pleaded guilty and received two years’ probation. Susan Blouin received pre-trial probation and the case was dismissed within a year.

In 2019, after two of the victims came forward, the couple was charged again, the Globe reported. The Blouins are now facing one count of assault and battery on a child.

The Blouins have denied the charges.

Lawyers for the four former foster children said they hope the settlement will encourage those who have suffered abuse to come forward.

“Our clients have suffered unimaginably, first as survivors of torture and then because they weren’t believed,” Erica Brody, the plaintiffs’ attorney, said in a statement. “We hope that this case shows other mistreated foster children that if they come forward, their voices will be heard, and people will be held accountable.”

The Department of Children and Families could not be reached for comment.”

Former foster children win $7M settlement after alleging state turned blind eye to abuse
[Mass Lawyers Weekly 8/15/23 by AP]