Florida Department of Children & Families Hit With $5 Million Verdict in Child-On-Child Sex Abuse; Governor Scott Signs $5 Million Claims Bill for Child Sexually Abused by Foster Boy Living in the Home
Disclaimer: Most cases result in a lower recovery. Results may not be typical and reflect awards before deduction for attorneys’ fees and expenses. It should not be assumed that your case will have as beneficial a result.
In 2013, a Palm Beach County jury returned a $5 million verdict against the Florida Department of Children & Family Services on behalf of a child, C.M.H., who was repeatedly raped by a known child-on-child sexual predator. Child sexual abuse lawyer Howard Talenfeld represented the family in the case.
Florida DCF had removed the predator, J.W., from his natural parents in May 2002 following allegations of abuse and neglect. State officials then placed J.W. with the parents and family of C.M.H., an 8-year-old boy.
Shortly after the placement, C.M.H. was sexually assaulted by J.W. Only later did the family learn that DCF knew J.W. to be a child-on-child sexual predator.
The evidence at trial revealed that DCF placed a sexual perpetrator in the home who was psychotic, homicidal and who had previously had sexually assaulted his toddler sister. J.W. later sexually assaulted another young girl.
C.M.H.’s family contended that DCF should have shared this information.
C.M.H. did not disclose the assault to his parents until 2005. J.W. was then removed from C.M.H.’s home. At the time of the case, C.M.H. was 20; J.W. was 21 and serving time in a Florida prison on a larceny charge.
During the court case, even the defense expert agreed that C.M.H. suffered from severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the sexual assault.
The Palm Beach County jury returned a $5 million verdict against the Florida Department of Children & Family Services on behalf of C.M.H. On Friday, March 23, 2018, Governor Rick Scott signed CS/HB 6509, a claims bill that directs the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) to pay more than $5 million awarded by a Florida jury to C.M.H., a victim of sexual abuse by a child in foster care. The bill is the result of a verdict and judgment against DCF on behalf of C.M.H., who was sexually assaulted at age nine by an 11-year-old foster child (“J.W.”) that DCF had placed at the home without a safety plan. This marked the largest known recovery in Florida for one child who was emotionally and sexually abused against a governmental defendant, DCF. Children’s rights attorney and Talenfeld Law Founder Howard Talenfeld served as co-counsel for C.M.H.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2006 on the family’s behalf against DCF and its case management subcontractors. The jury found C.M.H. had $10 million in damages but the judgment was only entered for $5 million against DCF because the jury also found that the parents were 50 percent at fault. DCF had removed J.W., a ten-year-old child, from his natural parents due to allegations of abuse and neglect in May 2002 and placed him with the parents of C.M.H., then eight.
C.M.H. did not disclose the assault to his parents until 2005, just before J.W. was removed from the home. In court, C.M.H.’s father testified at trial that if he had known J.W., the attacker, had himself been sexually assaulted, he would not have permitted him to stay in their home. He was not aware of his terrible history of sexual, physical and emotional abuse.
Even the Defense expert, Dr. Stephen Alexander, agreed that C.M.H. suffered from severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder as the result of the sexual assault.