Girl sues state over alleged sex abuse
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
HILO, Hawai'i — The state Department of Human Services is being sued after a 13-year-old girl alleged she was sexually assaulted in a Puna foster home last year. The girl also said her alleged assailant had a sexual relationship with another foster child there.
Robert Kim, a Kona lawyer who is representing the 13-year-old girl, filed the suit, which alleges the state was negligent for failing to properly protect the girl and other children at the foster home.
The suit was filed against the state, the foster family and court-appointed guardian Craig Sadamoto.
Kim said he received reports that three other foster children still live in the home. However, Human Services Director Lillian Koller yesterday said there are no longer any foster children in the home.
According to the lawsuit filed Thursday in Hilo Circuit Court, the Child Welfare Services division of the department placed the girl in a licensed foster home in April 2003.
The girl, identified in the lawsuit only as R.M., reported that she was sexually assaulted by an adult son of the foster parents when she was 12, according to the suit.
Kim said DHS immediately removed the girl from the home after she made her report in December.
The suit also alleges that Human Services officials had received reports that the son was having sexual relations with foster children at the home before the girl was sent there.
The girl told family members she knew that the son was having a sexual relationship with another girl who was also a foster child at the home earlier in the year, according to the lawsuit. The second girl moved out of the foster home in about October, according to the suit.
"I think the system is broken," Kim said. "There are really good foster parents, but the system needs to be accountable. There is nobody who is overseeing the system with any success. It's a secret system, and that's half of the problem.
"We're finally shining a light into this closed, secret system that seems to be covering up for itself. The primary thing should be about the welfare of the children, not covering our behinds."
Kim was also critical of the handling of the criminal case and said the suit was filed in part to let the community know about the allegations. There has been no arrest or indictment in the case, according to Kim.
"I am very concerned about the delay in the prosecution of this case," he said.
County Prosecutor Jay Kimura declined to say whether there is a criminal investigation under way. He said the prosecutor's office does not normally discuss cases before charges are filed, or disclose whether it is considering filing charges in a case.
The foster family was unavailable for comment yesterday and did not return a call to their home.
Koller said that while she could not comment on the case specifically because the matter is the subject of a lawsuit, the department did investigate the girl's allegations. She said she cannot discuss the outcome of the investigation.
"It is extremely distressing when allegations are made of injury or neglect by foster parents," she said. The foster homes (are) licensed, all of the people who live in them are screened, and the department does home inspections, she said.
"However, we never can predict future conduct by anybody, and when an allegation is made we respond quickly, especially to allegations of sexual assault. We investigate fully, and we take appropriate action, as we have done in this case," she said.
Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 935-3916.
