Lawsuit: Kentucky Family Sues CHFS

“A family has sued two social workers and their supervisor for allegedly lying to them about the past sexual abuse of their two adopted sons who went on to repeatedly assault their daughters.

Beverly and James Hilger from Shelbyville, Kentucky, said social workers in Jefferson County denied that the boys, who were 11 and 15 when they were adopted in 2005, had not been sexually abused and did not have a history of sexually abusing others.

In fact, the boys’ files showed the opposite – but workers would not hand them over to the family.

The parents have now filed the lawsuit on behalf of their 17-year-old adopted daughter Ashley, who was nine when she was allegedly first abused by her brothers.

One of the brothers, Jose A. Rodriguez, was an adult when the alleged abuse occurred and is now awaiting trial. The other brother, who was a juvenile at the time, has not been charged.

The Hilgers’ attorney, William McMurray, claims that the department hid the facts from the family in order to find homes for the boys so that it would reach its placement quotas.

‘I think they lied because it’s all about moving flesh,’ he told WDRB. ‘It’s all about quotas, numbers.’

The lawsuit states the social workers, William Hardin and Desiree Rhodes, failed to disclose important information so the parents could make an informed decision about adopting a child.
It also says the Cabinet for Health and Family Services failed to properly monitor and train the social workers and also names the cabinet’s deputy commissioner, Bonnie Hommrich.

Hilger said that the boys’ adoption was finalized in 2005 but it took nearly a year to finally get their hands on their files – and to discover the truth about the boys’ pasts.

They were determined to provide the boys a home, but they also sought to protect their other six children, two of whom are biological.

‘We had monitors, we had alarms, we had the let’s sit down and talk about no closed doors to bedrooms,’ Beverly told WAVE. ‘But you’ve got to lay your head down and sleep at night and monsters come out at night.’

Ashley said that the boys acted like brothers in the daytime but at night, they would sexually abuse her. It started when she was nine and continued for years, she said.

She said she was initially scared to say anything but in 2007, she finally told her mother about abuse at the hands of the younger brother.

‘First of all, I don’t think this is something that I should be ashamed about, I didn’t want this to happen, I didn’t choose for this to happen,’ she said.

Beverly Hilger said that when Ashley came forward, the younger boy admitted to molesting her and threatening her if she told anyone else, the lawsuit said.

Another sister also told her that two younger developmentally disabled daughters had been abused by the younger boy.

When her mother told the cabinet about the alleged abuse, they simply said the abuse was child-on-child so they could do nothing about it, Mrs Hilger said. She said the girls underwent counseling and the boy was placed on a sex offender’s program.

Then in 2010, Ashley revealed she had also been abused by the older boy, Jose Rodriguez, who was then an adult. He is now facing a criminal trial on October 30 for the alleged abuse.

The younger boy – who has not been named as he was a juvenile at the time of the alleged abuse – has apologized and is now living on his own in another state. He was never charged.

‘I don’t want anything like this to happen to anyone because it’s not fair,’ Ashley Hilger said.

Her mother said she is still the boys’ adoptive mother and that it was the state who failed them.

‘I do forgive them for what they did but I will never forgive the social workers because they put these girls and my boys in harms way,’ Hilger said.

‘It’s important to know these boys weren’t represented properly, either… They weren’t placed in a home that could meet their needs.’

None of the named defendants commented on the suit and a spokeswoman for the Cabinet said that it would not comment as it had not been named in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit seeks damages for ’emotional, physical and mental pain’.”

 

Family sues social workers ‘for lying about sexual abuse history of two adopted sons who went on to assault their daughters for years’[Daily Mail 10/16/13 By Lydia Warren]

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