{"id":1999757,"date":"2023-08-14T07:08:03","date_gmt":"2023-08-14T11:08:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-foster-children-win-7-million-settlement-after-allegations-of-abuse\/"},"modified":"2023-08-14T07:09:46","modified_gmt":"2023-08-14T11:09:46","slug":"former-foster-children-win-7-million-settlement-after-allegations-of-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-foster-children-win-7-million-settlement-after-allegations-of-abuse\/","title":{"rendered":"Former foster children awarded $7M settlement following abuse allegations."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fformer-foster-children-win-7-million-settlement-after-allegations-of-abuse%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1999757&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div data-post-content=\"true\" class=\"post_content\" id=\"post_content\">\n<h2>A Landmark Settlement \u200bfor Former Foster Care Children<\/h2>\n<p>A \u2063group of former foster care children have won a groundbreaking $7 million settlement from the state of \u200cMassachusetts after authorities allegedly turned a \u200cblind eye \u2062to their horrific abuse at the hands of their carers.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit, filed by four brave survivors, targeted the Department of Children and Family Services (DCF) and 17 officials from the agency. It <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/latest-blm-martyr-jayland-walker-fired-at-akron-police-before-officers-shot-him\/\" title=\"Latest BLM Martyr Jayland Walker Fired at Akron Police Before Officers Shot Him\">revealed shocking details<\/a> of repeated reports of abuse being\u200d ignored, exposing \u2062the children to \u200congoing sexual, physical, and emotional\u200d torture in the foster home\u200b of \u2064Raymond and Susan Blouin \u2064in Oxford, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit also uncovered the disturbing fact that reports of child abuse\u200d were shredded by\u200c the \u200bDCF. The abuse took place in the Blouins&#8217; \u200bhome, infamously known as the \u2062&#8221;house of horrors,&#8221; during various periods\u2062 from the late 1990s \u2062to 2004.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Related Stories<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/opinion\/the-scourge-of-child-trafficking-in-america-5459816\">The Scourge of Child Trafficking in America<\/a> &#8211; 8\/11\/2023<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/entertainment\/influencer-andrew-tate-released-from-house-arrest-while-he-awaits-human-trafficking-and-rape-trial-5444587\">Influencer Andrew Tate Released From House Arrest While \u2064He Awaits Human\u2063 Trafficking and Rape Trial<\/a> &#8211; 8\/4\/2023<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-foster-children-win-7-million-settlement-after-allegations-of-abuse\/\" title=\"Former foster children awarded M settlement following abuse allegations.\">survivors&#8217; harrowing \u2064accounts include<\/a> being submerged in ice baths\u200c to\u2063 the point of drowning, being forced to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-senators-introduce-end-child-trafficking-now-act\/\" title=\"GOP Senators Introduce \u2018End Child Trafficking Now Act\u2019\">perform sex acts<\/a>, and being locked up in\u2063 dog crates. The \u200cBlouins also allegedly threatened the children with death if they ever reported the abuse.<\/p>\n<p>The release by BHPK, the\u2064 law firm representing the abuse survivors, stated\u200d that the DCF &#8220;ignored fourteen reports of abuse and were deliberately indifferent&#8221; to the children&#8217;s suffering in the Blouins&#8217; home.<\/p>\n<p>After a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/father-considers-lawsuit-against-gender-clinic-for-affirming-9-year-old-autistic-son-as-transgender-lesbian\/\" title=\"Father Considers Lawsuit Against Gender Clinic For Affirming 9-Year-Old Autistic Son As Transgender Lesbian\">long legal battle<\/a>, the four former foster children reached a historic $7\u2062 million settlement with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.<\/p>\n<p>The plaintiffs, who filed their case as adults in 2019, have faced immense \u2063challenges. One of \u2063them tragically overdosed and died during the litigation, while \u2062another is currently incarcerated.<\/p>\n<p>Attorney \u2064Erica \u2064L. Brody, representing the plaintiffs, emphasized that this case exposed a complete failure of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of President Trump\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">foster care system<\/a>. While no amount \u2063of money can truly compensate for their suffering, the settlement serves\u200c as an acknowledgment of the state&#8217;s responsibility in allowing foster children to endure\u200d years of torture in the Blouin \u200dhome.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Brody added, &#8220;This case sets a precedent in Massachusetts and\u2062 across the \u200ccountry. State social workers who turn a\u200b blind eye to\u200b the suffering of foster children will be held accountable for violating the United States Constitution.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In the early 2000s, the Blouins and Susan Blouin&#8217;s boyfriend Philip Paquette were charged with child\u2064 abuse. Ms. Blouin&#8217;s case was\u200d dismissed, while Mr. Blouin pleaded guilty and received probation.<\/p>\n<p>In 2019, \u2064the Blouins faced\u2064 charges again after\u200d two more victims came forward. They are currently facing charges of\u2063 battery on a child and assault,\u200c which they have denied.<\/p>\n<h2>Social Workers Shielded By State Laws<\/h2>\n<p>Despite acknowledging the\u200b horrific abuse suffered by the former foster care children, the \u2062DCF&#8217;s lawyers \u200ddenied any fault on the part \u2062of \u200dthe social workers. They argued that social work is not an exact science and that even good social work can\u2063 fall short of the agency&#8217;s \u200dgoal\u2064 of keeping children safe.<\/p>\n<p>Carmen Durso, a lawyer specializing in representing survivors \u2063of sexual abuse, explained that lawsuits against state \u2064officials for \u200bfailing to protect children are challenging to win due to state laws that shield employees from culpability.<\/p>\n<p>The plaintiffs maintain that the agency should have known the children were in danger in\u200b the Blouin home. They highlight that even after a\u2062 teenager with cerebral palsy \u2063died in the home in 1997, the agency continued to place children \u200cin the Blouins&#8217; foster care.<\/p>\n<h2>Reforming DCF<\/h2>\n<p>In a statement to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegram.com\/story\/news\/local\/2023\/08\/11\/oxford-house-of-horrors-settlement-mass-agency-to-pay-7-million\/70576275007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Worcester<\/a>, the DCF acknowledged the severity of the abuse suffered by the former\u2062 foster care children. However, they maintained \u2063that social workers were not at fault and that \u200cthe agency took action \u2062to remove\u200b the \u200dchildren from the home as soon as legally possible.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A $7 million settlement has been awarded to a group of ex-foster care children in Massachusetts. Allegedly, authorities ignored their abuse by caregivers. The lawsuit was filed by four former foster children against the Department of Children and Family Services (DCF) and 17 officials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":186,"featured_media":1999758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1999757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1999757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/186"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1999757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1999757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1999758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1999757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1999757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1999757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}