Family Forum / Parenting / Adoption / July 2004

oh yuck

http://www.herald-sun.com/orange/10-501732.html

Lawsuit: Home didn't protect girl from sexual abuse


By Susan Broili : The Herald-Sun
sbroili@heraldsun.com
Jul 16, 2004 : 7:16 pm ET

HILLSBOROUGH -- A civil lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court on behalf
of a female child alleges that the Masonic Home for Children at Oxford Inc.,
didn't protect the minor from sexual abuse from a volunteer.

The volunteer, James McDaniel-Webb, was also named as a defendant in the suit,
according to court records.

McDaniel-Webb now faces both federal and state charges that stem from his
alleged behavior toward the lawsuit's plaintiff, said attorney Lynne Holtkamp,
who filed the lawsuit on July 2.

The state felony charges filed in February and March of 2003 charge Daniel-Webb
with one count of sexual activity by a substitute parent, one count of indecent
liberties with a child and two counts of felony statutory rape/sexual offense,
according to court records.

The lawsuit also names as a defendant the Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and
Accepted Masons of North Carolina, the owner and operator of The Mason Home for
Children at Oxford Inc.

It asked for compensatory damages of more than $10,000, the exact amount to be
determined by a jury, from each of the three defendants named in the case.

When contacted Friday, a woman who answered the phone at the Masonic Home for
Children at Oxford Inc., said that no one there knew about the lawsuit.

Holtkamp said Friday that it was possible that the lawsuit had not yet been
served.

The lawsuit alleges that the Grand Lodge and Masonic home had a duty to protect
the children in their care from the increased risk of sexual abuse and
exploitation by their staff and volunteers.

The lawsuit went on to detail the allegations.

The child's adoptive parents placed her in the care of the Masonic Home from
Jan. 18, 2001, to Aug. 3, 2001, according to the lawsuit.

The Grand Lodge and Masonic Home knew or should have known that the girl was
the victim of "recent substantiated child neglect by the adoptive parents who
placed her in their care; had been diagnosed with emotional and behavior
disorders; [and] was under a protective plan with the Vance-Granville
Department of Social Services, which required immediate counseling by an
experienced and credentialed therapist," according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that the Grand Lodge and Masonic Home should have been
aware of this and should not have taken the minor plaintiff under their care
because at the time, they were not authorized to accept children with emotional
and behavior disorders.

Instead, between May 2001 and July 2001, the Grand Lodge and Masonic Home
allowed McDaniel -Webb "to take the minor plaintiff, then age 12, and another
female child to his home on several unsupervised overnight weekend visits,"
according to the lawsuit.

Lawyers believe that in July 2001, "as a result of the two incidents of
inappropriate and pedophilic behavior," the defendants stopped allowing
McDaniel-Webb to have unsupervised visits with the girl, according to the
lawsuit.

But subsequently, McDaniel-Webb contacted the girls' adoptive parents, and
offered to pay them to consent to his obtaining legal custody of her. In August
2001, "the adoptive parents notified the Masonic Home of their desire to give
custody of the 12-year-old plaintiff to McDaniel-Webb," according to the
lawsuit.

"Without taking any action to protect the minor plaintiff, the defendants
merely advised that they were opposed to the decision, and then promptly
released the 12-year-old minor plaintiff to McDaniel-Webb," according to the
lawsuit.

Between October 2001 and January 2003, when the girl was 12 and 13, she was
"repeatedly sexually assaulted by defendant McDaniel- Webb," according to the
lawsuit.

McDaniel-Webb was arrested in January 2003 and charged with numerous counts of
sexual assault of the girl, and is now in jail pending federal and state
charges, according to the lawsuit.

The girl will require "lifelong medical care and treatment," and is entitled to
damages to offset the resulting expenses, according to the lawsuit.


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A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown