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DHS sued over alleged child abuse Thursday Mar 30, 2017 at 3:06 PM Mar 30, 2017 at 5:43 PM Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune @VickieAldous The Oregon Department of Human Services and child welfare workers are being sued for up to $15.3 million over allegations they knowingly allowed two little girls to live in a White City mobile home with a registered sex offender and their half-brother, who both allegedly physically and sexually abused the girls. Lawyers for both sides said the case in Jackson County Circuit Court is still in its early stages, with no trial date set. Jill Schneider, attorney for the state, a child welfare worker and a child welfare worker supervisor being sued, said she could not comment on the case because it is under litigation. "We're still in the early stages of the case," she said. "Facts still need to come out." Jeremiah Ross, attorney for the girls and their new guardians, also declined to comment about the allegations. A lawsuit filed by Ross and lawyer Erin Olson spells out details of the allegations. According to the lawsuit, DHS responded to the residence of a mother with five children in March 2014 after receiving a report from local police about concerns of drug use, domestic violence and lack of food in the home. DHS took the two girls, now age 4 and 8, and three of their half-siblings into protective custody. The children were moved among various relatives and foster homes. Meanwhile, the girls' out-of-state paternal grandmother filed a petition in Jackson County Circuit Court in April 2014 to become their guardian. That month, DHS implemented a safety plan for the five children that said their great-grandmother could visit them only at a foster home because she had an "unsafe nephew on her property." The great-grandmother lived in a mobile home park in White City with her brother and nephew. The nephew is a registered sex offender who has been designated as a predatory sex offender because he exhibits a tendency to victimize or injure others and has been convicted of third-degree sodomy against a minor under the age of 16, the lawsuit says. Websites available to the public show the nephew's name, his current age of 52 and a photo of him. The websites list him as living in White City. The websites say he was convicted in 1986 of third-degree sodomy, according to a check this week by the Mail Tribune. The lawsuit says in May 2014 the girls' teenage half-brother was removed from the foster home where he was staying apart from the girls "due to inappropriate contact with another child in that home." That month, the girls were returned to their mother's custody after she began a substance abuse treatment program and moved into a safe house. A few weeks later, DHS allowed the mother to move out of the safe house with the girls, even though she was not compliant with her treatment plan, the lawsuit alleges. The mother moved with the girls into the White City mobile home, the lawsuit says. A child welfare worker visited the mobile home and met the registered sex offender there, the lawsuit says. The out-of-state paternal grandmother of the girls left a voicemail with the child welfare worker expressing concern that the girls were living at the White City home with a registered predatory sex offender, the lawsuit says. The teenage half-brother of the girls then moved into the mobile home with DHS participation and approval in June 2014, the lawsuit alleges. The girls were regularly left in the care of their half-brother for long periods of time in the home. The registered sex offender was frequently present during those times. During summer 2014, the half-brother and the sex offender repeatedly physically, sexually and emotionally abused the girls, who were age 2 and 5 at the time, the lawsuit claims. During that summer, the out-of-state grandmother repeatedly contacted the child welfare worker herself and through her attorney, spelling out a litany of concerns. She warned the girls were living with a registered predatory sex offender, there were illegal drugs in the home, the girls' father had seen visible injuries on their bodies, there was a lack of appropriate adult care, and the girls were being left in the care of their half-brother for long periods of time, the lawsuit says. After a July 30, 2014, hearing, the paternal grandmother won her court petition to be appointed guardian of the girls. A lawyer for DHS asked her whether she would also take the half-brother. She agreed to do so — unaware that the teen had been removed from an earlier foster home because of inappropriate contact with another child. She also didn't know about the abuse occurring at the White City mobile home, the lawsuit alleges. The paternal grandmother moved with the three kids back to her home state, where the half-brother continued to physically, sexually and emotionally abuse the girls, the lawsuit claims. The grandmother did not find out about the abuse until September 2015, when the girl who is now 8 finally disclosed her half-brother had been abusing her, the lawsuit says. — Reach staff reporter Vickie Aldous can be reached at 541-776-4486 or [email protected]. Follow her at www.twitter.com/VickieAldous.