A Spokane man who says he was repeatedly sexually abused after being placed in state foster care with a convicted child molester is suing the Washington Department of Social and Health Services, the state Department of Corrections and Spokane County.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Spokane County Superior Court by attorneys representing Michael P. Smith makes no specific monetary claim for damages.
But a separate tort claim estimates damages at $31 million because of permanent, debilitating psychological and emotional problems and Smith’s inability to function in social settings, which makes him unemployable.
The lawsuit says Smith was 11 in the 1970s when he was placed into the care of foster parent Gerald “Jerry” Duane Allen, a convicted sex offender who had molested a boy in the 1960s. Allen had been licensed by the state as a foster parent. Smith remained in Allen’s care until he turned 18.
“Michael was severely and maliciously abused. He was raped, sodomized, physically assaulted and mentally abused over and over and over again,” the suit says.
The lawsuit accuses the state agencies of failing to properly investigate and supervise Allen, and alleges that Spokane County juvenile probation officers failed to investigate Allen or protect Smith’s interests.
The Associated Press
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