A shocking lawsuit filed in Marion County claims a 3-week-old girl was sexually assaulted and battered in an Ocala area foster home, and child welfare officials could have prevented it from happening.
According to USA Today, the lawsuit filed last week contends that Kids Central, the Ocala nonprofit agency charged with managing child welfare in the region, and The Centers, which offers case management services, had knowledge that a 16-year-old boy living in the home had sexually assaulted other children in the past.
The foster parents set up video cameras around their home to monitor the boy’s activities and caught him abusing the infant for more than 20 minutes back in March of 2019.
A subsequent investigation from the Department of Children and Families also showed that the baby was sexually penetrated by the teen and the sexual abuse was medically confirmed as well.
“This tragedy never should have happened,” said Stacie Schmerling, an attorney with Justice for Kids in Fort Lauderdale, who filed the suit against Kids Central and The Centers. “The family never should have been licensed to care for these vulnerable, non-verbal children,” she told USA Today.
“They privatized the system to make it better,” Schmerling said. “But now there are multiple private agencies in every county, and when a child is harmed there is finger-pointing all around and no accountability.”
The 16 year old, who has a history of sexual abuse offenses, has since been charged and prosecuted as a juvenile offender in this case. His sentence was not apart of the public record.
Hope he dies.