By Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje
San Antonio Express News
Excerpts:
Crystal Bentley, 23, entered the Texas foster care system when she was 2 and wouldn’t leave it until she aged out at 18.
In the intervening years, as she was shuffled from place to place, she was repeatedly beaten and sexually abused — sometimes by the adults entrusted with her care, sometimes by their biological children, sometimes by other foster kids or her own relatives, Bentley testified in federal court Wednesday.
A rotating cast of Child Protective Services caseworkers who were supposed to watch out for her safety often didn’t show up for monthly visits, she said. When they did visit, it was usually for a cursory handful of minutes during which they failed to detect what was happening to her.
“I would hint that something was going on, but when they asked me if I was being sexually abused, it was always right there in front of my abusers,” Bentley testified. “What could I say?”
Bentley’s testimony Wednesday came on the third day of a trial in a class-action lawsuit brought by Children’s Rights, a New York-based advocacy group on behalf of 12,000 children in long-term state care in Texas.
The suit, being heard by Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack, alleges the state violated the children’s civil rights through myriad deficiencies: moving them around repeatedly, placing them in unsafe care and keeping them there too long. Children’s Rights, which is presenting its side of the case this week, said it has filed similar lawsuits in 19 states, resulting in 15 settlements or judgments in its clients’ favor.
- See more at: http://medicalkidnap.com/2014/12/10/12000-children-from-foster-care-sue-state-of-texas-over-abuses/#sthash.C6CC2AeX.dpuf
San Antonio Express News
Excerpts:
Crystal Bentley, 23, entered the Texas foster care system when she was 2 and wouldn’t leave it until she aged out at 18.
In the intervening years, as she was shuffled from place to place, she was repeatedly beaten and sexually abused — sometimes by the adults entrusted with her care, sometimes by their biological children, sometimes by other foster kids or her own relatives, Bentley testified in federal court Wednesday.
A rotating cast of Child Protective Services caseworkers who were supposed to watch out for her safety often didn’t show up for monthly visits, she said. When they did visit, it was usually for a cursory handful of minutes during which they failed to detect what was happening to her.
“I would hint that something was going on, but when they asked me if I was being sexually abused, it was always right there in front of my abusers,” Bentley testified. “What could I say?”
Bentley’s testimony Wednesday came on the third day of a trial in a class-action lawsuit brought by Children’s Rights, a New York-based advocacy group on behalf of 12,000 children in long-term state care in Texas.
The suit, being heard by Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack, alleges the state violated the children’s civil rights through myriad deficiencies: moving them around repeatedly, placing them in unsafe care and keeping them there too long. Children’s Rights, which is presenting its side of the case this week, said it has filed similar lawsuits in 19 states, resulting in 15 settlements or judgments in its clients’ favor.
- See more at: http://medicalkidnap.com/2014/12/10/12000-children-from-foster-care-sue-state-of-texas-over-abuses/#sthash.C6CC2AeX.dpuf
By Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje
San Antonio Express News
Excerpts:
Crystal Bentley, 23, entered the Texas foster care system when she was 2 and wouldn’t leave it until she aged out at 18.
In the intervening years, as she was shuffled from place to place, she was repeatedly beaten and sexually abused — sometimes by the adults entrusted with her care, sometimes by their biological children, sometimes by other foster kids or her own relatives, Bentley testified in federal court Wednesday.
A rotating cast of Child Protective Services caseworkers who were supposed to watch out for her safety often didn’t show up for monthly visits, she said. When they did visit, it was usually for a cursory handful of minutes during which they failed to detect what was happening to her.
“I would hint that something was going on, but when they asked me if I was being sexually abused, it was always right there in front of my abusers,” Bentley testified. “What could I say?”
Bentley’s testimony Wednesday came on the third day of a trial in a class-action lawsuit brought by Children’s Rights, a New York-based advocacy group on behalf of 12,000 children in long-term state care in Texas.
The suit, being heard by Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack, alleges the state violated the children’s civil rights through myriad deficiencies: moving them around repeatedly, placing them in unsafe care and keeping them there too long. Children’s Rights, which is presenting its side of the case this week, said it has filed similar lawsuits in 19 states, resulting in 15 settlements or judgments in its clients’ favor.
- See more at: http://medicalkidnap.com/2014/12/10/12000-children-from-foster-care-sue-state-of-texas-over-abuses/#sthash.C6CC2AeX.dpuf
San Antonio Express News
Excerpts:
Crystal Bentley, 23, entered the Texas foster care system when she was 2 and wouldn’t leave it until she aged out at 18.
In the intervening years, as she was shuffled from place to place, she was repeatedly beaten and sexually abused — sometimes by the adults entrusted with her care, sometimes by their biological children, sometimes by other foster kids or her own relatives, Bentley testified in federal court Wednesday.
A rotating cast of Child Protective Services caseworkers who were supposed to watch out for her safety often didn’t show up for monthly visits, she said. When they did visit, it was usually for a cursory handful of minutes during which they failed to detect what was happening to her.
“I would hint that something was going on, but when they asked me if I was being sexually abused, it was always right there in front of my abusers,” Bentley testified. “What could I say?”
Bentley’s testimony Wednesday came on the third day of a trial in a class-action lawsuit brought by Children’s Rights, a New York-based advocacy group on behalf of 12,000 children in long-term state care in Texas.
The suit, being heard by Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack, alleges the state violated the children’s civil rights through myriad deficiencies: moving them around repeatedly, placing them in unsafe care and keeping them there too long. Children’s Rights, which is presenting its side of the case this week, said it has filed similar lawsuits in 19 states, resulting in 15 settlements or judgments in its clients’ favor.
- See more at: http://medicalkidnap.com/2014/12/10/12000-children-from-foster-care-sue-state-of-texas-over-abuses/#sthash.C6CC2AeX.dpuf
By Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje
San Antonio Express News
Excerpts:
Crystal Bentley, 23, entered the Texas foster care system when she was 2 and wouldn’t leave it until she aged out at 18.
In the intervening years, as she was shuffled from place to place, she was repeatedly beaten and sexually abused — sometimes by the adults entrusted with her care, sometimes by their biological children, sometimes by other foster kids or her own relatives, Bentley testified in federal court Wednesday.
A rotating cast of Child Protective Services caseworkers who were supposed to watch out for her safety often didn’t show up for monthly visits, she said. When they did visit, it was usually for a cursory handful of minutes during which they failed to detect what was happening to her.
“I would hint that something was going on, but when they asked me if I was being sexually abused, it was always right there in front of my abusers,” Bentley testified. “What could I say?”
Bentley’s testimony Wednesday came on the third day of a trial in a class-action lawsuit brought by Children’s Rights, a New York-based advocacy group on behalf of 12,000 children in long-term state care in Texas.
The suit, being heard by Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack, alleges the state violated the children’s civil rights through myriad deficiencies: moving them around repeatedly, placing them in unsafe care and keeping them there too long. Children’s Rights, which is presenting its side of the case this week, said it has filed similar lawsuits in 19 states, resulting in 15 settlements or judgments in its clients’ favor.
- See more at: http://medicalkidnap.com/2014/12/10/12000-children-from-foster-care-sue-state-of-texas-over-abuses/#sthash.C6CC2AeX.dpuf
San Antonio Express News
Excerpts:
Crystal Bentley, 23, entered the Texas foster care system when she was 2 and wouldn’t leave it until she aged out at 18.
In the intervening years, as she was shuffled from place to place, she was repeatedly beaten and sexually abused — sometimes by the adults entrusted with her care, sometimes by their biological children, sometimes by other foster kids or her own relatives, Bentley testified in federal court Wednesday.
A rotating cast of Child Protective Services caseworkers who were supposed to watch out for her safety often didn’t show up for monthly visits, she said. When they did visit, it was usually for a cursory handful of minutes during which they failed to detect what was happening to her.
“I would hint that something was going on, but when they asked me if I was being sexually abused, it was always right there in front of my abusers,” Bentley testified. “What could I say?”
Bentley’s testimony Wednesday came on the third day of a trial in a class-action lawsuit brought by Children’s Rights, a New York-based advocacy group on behalf of 12,000 children in long-term state care in Texas.
The suit, being heard by Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack, alleges the state violated the children’s civil rights through myriad deficiencies: moving them around repeatedly, placing them in unsafe care and keeping them there too long. Children’s Rights, which is presenting its side of the case this week, said it has filed similar lawsuits in 19 states, resulting in 15 settlements or judgments in its clients’ favor.
- See more at: http://medicalkidnap.com/2014/12/10/12000-children-from-foster-care-sue-state-of-texas-over-abuses/#sthash.C6CC2AeX.dpuf
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