WA State Sued for Child Sexual Abuse at One of Its ‘Most Repugnant’ Group Homes

Tacoma, WA - Washington State child welfare agencies and workers should be held responsible for ongoing sexual molestation of a teen sent to an Eastern Washington home for troubled boys in the state’s care, argues a lawsuit that went to trial in November.

Attorneys for a man identified only as T.V. to protect his identify argue the State knew of, failed to act, and ignored widespread abuses at J Bar D, a privately-run group home near the town of Ione, north of Spokane.  They argue this resulted in a lifetime of debilitating trauma, mental and social impacts on the victim.

T.V. was among the thousands of children officially under the care and responsibility of the State.

T.V.’s attorney, Darrell Cochran

“This is one of the darkest chapters in the history of social work in the State of Washington,” lead attorney Darrell Cochran told jurors in his opening statement.  Cochran told jurors how the State failed T.V. and dozens of other boys in its legal, primary obligation to protect children from abuse.  The suit names the State of Washington and the Department of Social and Health Services, now the Department of Children, Youth and Families.

The lawsuit details years of physical and emotional abuse and other egregious violations by the management and staff of J Bar D including child rape, violent beatings, substandard and unhealthy living conditions, financial mismanagement and more.  Cochran and his team have introduced over 40 reports and other correspondence detailing the myriad complaints and responses – or lack thereof – from the operators and state social workers and licensors responsible for overseeing J Bar D.

The boys home was one of several owned and operated by Director David Goodwin between 1973 and 1985.  The suit alleges, after he was ordered to be sent there by a case worker in 1983, T.V. was repeatedly raped by a night watchman who was the lone overnight supervisor.

Lawyers for the Washington Attorney General’s office representing the State don’t dispute the years of abuses and violations at J Bar D.  But they argue anything that took place before T.V. was sent to the facility is irrelevant to this case, regardless of how egregious the abuses were.

The State attorneys also argue even if the rape allegations are true, T.V. did not report them to his caseworker or anyone else at the time or after.

And they argue the State can’t be held responsible for the actions of the operator, since J Bar D had its licenses to operate repeatedly renewed and DCYF case workers and inspectors had properly conducted their required oversight.

“The plaintiff cannot have it both ways. Either he reported it to the State and the State failed to act – which is not what his testimony says – or he reported the issue to J Bar D and they failed to act – not the State,” said Sean Hornbook, Assistant Attorney General.

The lawsuit says T.V. repressed memory of the debilitating trauma caused by the ongoing abuse for decades, only remembering it after years of therapy. And his lawyers argue his attacker – who visibly wore a pistol in a holster and kept a violent dog by his side during the rapes - threatened him with harm if he reported the rapes to anyone.

Official records document years of abuses and violations at J Bar D starting soon after Goodwin was granted a license by the State to operate the facility.  They include such incidents as rape of children by staff and other residents, daily assaults by some teens on others, staff handcuffing a child to an anvil who frequently ran away, dragging another teen behind a horse to discipline him, and much more.

State officials sent letters in response to some of the complaints or conducted inspections prior to T.V.’s arrival.  But authorities never took action such as suspending, revoking, or denying renewal of Goodwin’s license and allowed him to operate J Bar D uninterrupted.

John Troutner on the witness stand.

Former State social worker and administrator John Troutner was the first witness to testify in the trial.  Trautner authored a report in 1985 sent to a senior DCYF administrator in Spokane analyzing all of the records related to J Bar D.  He detailed what he called signs of a lack of proper supervision and the numerous reported abuses and violations dating back to May of 1979.

During questioning by attorney Ian Bauer, Troutner told jurors J Bar D, the State and social workers failed repeatedly to follow the law and regulations.  That included a lack of proper documentation of complaints and incidents, and most importantly, regularly visiting with the children at the home – the State’s primary obligation.

According to Troutner, social workers should have met “almost weekly” if not quarterly at minimum with those children newly placed at J Bar D, to ensure they are “adjusting, being heard properly, and staff is providing proper care.” Yet they never did.

“How could you not help but look at all these incidents and realize there’s something wrong,” Troutner stated.

Troutner ultimately recommended in his 1985 report the state revoke J Bar D’s foster license.

But Assistant Attorney General Cindy Gaddis tried to undermine Troutner’s assertion of missing documentation and failed reporting in her cross-examination.  Gaddis presented several reports or official correspondence from State social workers and administrators showing some complaints and other information were documented and forwarded to proper authorities, including one teen stabbing another.

In response to questioning by Gaddis, Troutner also testified he doesn’t recall seeing any reports or complaints relating to T.V.

The State does officially admit it was negligent in its duty to care for T.V. No social worker or other official visited or spoke with T.V. during his entire 18-month stay at J Bar D.  But it says that’s the extent of any negligence.

In later questioning, T.V. called it “shocking” when he learned in court DSHS was required by law to have a social worker visit him regularly and failed to do so. “If that's their job they are supposed to do, then they would have been on top of things and it hurts knowing that they didn't care enough to show up,” he said.

T.V. described being required to work on the ranch at night under the supervision of his soon to be abuser, and that the rapes started just weeks after his arrival – when he was just 14 years old.

“He told me he was going to have sex with me. He said if I try to do anything, he would sic his dog on us.”  T.V. also testified the night watchmen wore a sidearm in a holster and threatened him and other children if they reported the abuse.  He went on to detail multiple horrendous abuse incidents under questioning.

DSHS inspector Troutner’s report was not the only one chronicling abuse complaints and violations by both J Bar D management and staff and State social workers and inspectors.  The Pend Oreille County Sheriff and a local prosecutor launched a formal, investigation of J Bar D after DCYF repeatedly refused to act.  A then-Superior Court judge convened a special inquiry that lambasted J Bar D and the State for the abuses and substandard conditions, calling DSHS’ oversight of the ranch “disgraceful.”

“A number of crimes were probably committed, and if they had been promptly reported, at least a portion of those could have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt,” Judge Sidney Buckley wrote in the 1984 findings.  The investigation and report ultimately led the State to order J Bar D shut down in 1985. No charges were ever filed against Goodwin or any others.

Noted psychiatrist and child sexual abuse and trauma expert David L. Corwin, MD testified he interviewed T.V. and evaluated years of reports as well as a formal complaint to police in which T.V. demanded an investigation into the abuses at J Bar D.  T.V. reported remembering the abuses after undergoing extensive therapy around 2015.

Corwin says T.V. “reported the rapes to numerous people at the ranch and to the guardian ad litem, to CPS, that everybody just thought he was trying to get out of being at the ranch. Nobody did anything.”

When asked about T.V.’s recollections only emerging several decades after the alleged abuses, Corwin cited years of research and medical consensus that trauma such as sexual assaults can have significant impact on memory.

“From the statements put out by the American Psychiatric Association, the International Society for the Study of Traumatic Stress, the American Psychological Association, there's a general consensus at this time that victims of things like sexual abuse, severe stressor traumas during childhood can go through periods of not being able to recall and later recall what happened to them,” he testified.

The trial is expected to conclude in mid-December.  Attorneys for T.V. will continue building the case that everything that transpired over the years at the facility led directly to his repeated abuse and subsequent trauma that has caused him irreparable harm.  They’re seeking an undetermined award of damages for his years of suffering, which they argue is “immeasurable given the severity of the abuse.”

“This trial will finally shed light on one of the most repugnant group homes that has ever been licensed in the State of Washington. We look forward to trying this case and bringing justice for the many victims that resided at this facility,” said Cochran.