Last week, the State of Washington agreed to pay $15,000,000 to our clients, three sisters, J.P., R.P., and S.P., who were sexually abused at a foster home in Centralia, Washington in the 1990s. The settlement allows the State to avoid a 3-week jury trial scheduled to begin July 22, 2024 in Thurston County Superior Court.
We filed this lawsuit in February 2022, on behalf of our three clients who were sexually abused between 1990 and 2000, starting at ages four, five, and six, by two teenage sons of the foster parents. The abuse continued until our clients were teenagers. The Pittman foster home was located in rural Centralia, WA, and had been licensed by the State since the early 1980s. At the time our clients were placed in the home, the Pittmans had seven biological children, and at times there were as many as 12 children in the home. Two of the Pittman’s biological children were witnesses in the lawsuit and described the home as a “compound” with an isolated and insular “cult like” environment with extreme religious views, particularly as it came to the oppression of women, and severe, physically abusive disciplinary practices. One of the State’s social workers compared the foster home to the “Duggars.”
After the State placed the three young children at the Pittman foster home, the social workers responsible for their well-being took very little action to make sure they were healthy and safe. Under the State’s policies and procedures, social workers are required to meet face to face with foster children on a monthly basis to ensure they are safe and protected during the placement. According to the evidence, the State failed to conduct a single home safety visit with the children, our clients, from 1992 to 1995. Prior to 1992, the State had minimal contact with the children, primarily only for a handful of visits with the biological father whose parental rights were eventually terminated.
Even more astounding, in 1995, the State endorsed the adoption petition sought by the Pittmans and assured the Court that the home was healthy and safe, even though the State had little to no contact with the three children or the foster home for several years, and even though mental health providers had raised concerns that the children were not being nurtured or taken care of at the home. Meanwhile, the young children were being horribly sexually abused by two of the Pittman’s teenage sons. Our three clients, along with most children in the home, were also being savagely beaten and emotionally abused by the foster parents under the guise of “corporal punishment.” The State’s records show numerous complaints to the State concerning the foster parent’s physical beatings and “corporal punishment” practices, but the State shockingly found such behaviors did not reach the level of “child abuse,” although agreed corporal punishment is a violation of foster care licensing rules. The State continued to place children in the home and took virtually no action to ensure the safety of our clients or other children.
PCVA Attorneys Vincent Nappo, Mallory Allen, and Zabrina Delgado were lead trial counsel on the three cases and were planning to try the civil case in front of Judge Lanese in Thurston County this month. PCVA has done extensive work handling foster care sexual abuse cases for over 15 years. Our firm also handles numerous cases involving sexual abuse at schools, youth organizations, youth sports, churches, day care centers, group homes, and hospitals.
According to Nappo, the State completely failed in its responsibility to protect foster children, the most vulnerable members of our communities: “The State removed our clients from drug addicted parents only to place them in a horror house of sexual abuse, physical violence and literal torture.”
Partner, Mallory Allen, commented on the devastating, but predictable, outcome in cases like these where children are simply “warehoused” at a foster home: “The State abandoned these children and did virtually nothing to monitor their safety and wellbeing.”
Nappo further explained, the main social worker responsible for supervising our clients at the foster home testified she was given an overwhelming and impossible case load where she simply could not meet the supervision requirements for her foster children: “There is no good excuse for a social worker to fail to do a single health and safety visit with a foster child for years and years. The State must provide the necessary resources and support to its social workers to ensure foster children are safe and protected in placement, or these types of horrific placements will continue.”
Allen added: “We commend the State on the settlement, which will allow our clients to avoid a lengthy and painful jury trial. But more than anything else, our clients hope it sends a strong message to the State to be vigilant in their placements and supervision of foster children.”
About PCVA Law
At Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala, we are proud to be one of the leading law firms in the United States fighting for the rights of sexual abuse survivors, representing more than 1,000 people who have filed lawsuits under the Child Protective Services (CPS), Child Victims Act, and Adult Survivors Act as well as many more people who are survivors of abuse and injury in Washington, New York, and California.
If you or someone you know has been or is believed to be the victim of sexual abuse while in the care of an institution, we encourage you to speak to a PCVA lawyer for free by completing our online form or calling us at (206) 462-4334 or (253) 777-0799.
Our Case Results
PCVA has a lengthy history of pursuing damages for individuals who were put into the foster care system and experienced child sexual abuse at the hands of approved foster parents. This includes cases involving Child Protective Services (CPS) failure to thoroughly investigate claims of abuse or neglect, a lack of oversight, or allowing unqualified applicants to become foster parents. See below for links to some of our case results involving improper foster care treatment in the states of Washington, New York, California, and elsewhere. You can see some of our case results here:
$25M Jury Verdict in Sexual Abuse Case Against the State of New Jersey
$16.95M Settlement in Landmark Child Abuse Case Against Washington State
$9.5M Settlement in Sexual Abuse Cases Against University Place School District
$9.35M Settlement for Foster Care Child Sexual Abuse Case Against Washington State
$7.5M Jury Verdict in Sexual Abuse Case Against YMCA
$6.75M Settlement in Sexual Abuse Case Against the State of New Jersey
$3.9M Settlement for a Child Sexual Abuse Case Against the Tahoma School District
See a more detailed list on our Case Results page
Press Coverage
Fox News: https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/foster-care-sexual-abuse-lawsuit
My Edmonds News: https://myedmondsnews.com/2024/07/wa-to-pay-15m-to-three-former-foster-care-youth-in-sex-abuse-case/
MyNorthwest: https://mynorthwest.com/3969291/wa-pay-15-million-3-sisters-sexual-abuse-foster-home/
Seattle Times: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/wa-to-pay-15-million-to-3-sisters-who-alleged-abuse-by-centralia-foster-brothers/
The Daily Chronicle: https://www.chronline.com/stories/state-of-washington-agrees-to-pay-15m-to-three-sisters-who-were-abused-at-a-centralia-foster-home,346299
The Daily Chronicle: https://www.chronline.com/stories/washington-state-to-pay-15-million-to-three-sisters-who-alleged-abuse-by-centralia-foster-brothers,346582
Washington Standard: https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/07/29/wa-to-pay-15m-to-three-former-foster-care-youth-in-sex-abuse-case/