MORGANTOWN – A Marion County couple blames the state Department of Health and Human Resources for a 5-year-old girl being sexually assaulted by a 12-year-old boy under DHHR supervision.
A.Z. and K.Z., individually and as parents of 6-year-old C.Z., filed their complaint May 31 in Monongalia Circuit Court against the West Virginia DHHR and DHHR employees Michelle Bast and Aimee Gallo.
“Our client was lured to a secluded area and violently sexually assaulted by an older child that had predatory tendencies and who was allowed to roam unsupervised at a little league baseball game,” said Tim Miley, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs. “It shocks the conscience that the very government agency meant to protect our children blatantly failed our client. It’s our job to hold the WVDHHR and its employees accountable so that this never happens again.
Tim Miley
| mileylegal.com
“It is important that all persons involved in these incidents are held accountable, including those in positions of authority whose sole responsibility is to protect the most vulnerable.”
According to the complaint, the plaintiff family attended a Little League baseball game April 24, 2021, near Wadestown in Monongalia County. They were there to watch C.Z.’s brother play baseball. A 12-year-old male identified as “Travis” also was at the ball fields to play. He was on a visitation day with his parents, but he was there under the direct custody and supervision of the WVDHHR through employees Bast and Gallo.
The complaint says “Travis” had a history of aggressive, violent and sexually predatory behavior.
“Travis was observed by a witness or witnesses to have engaged in trolling behavior, meaning actions designed to entice very young females to trust or engage with him so that he could select his most vulnerable potential victim,” the complaint states. “As C.Z. as playing near the field with a friend, she was, through artifice, lured behind a structure by Travis where Travis violently physically and sexually assaulted her.”
C.Z. was 5 years old at the time of the incident. The complaint says Travis forced the girl to the ground and covered her mouth before he pulled down her pants and “made forceful physical contact with C.Z.’s genitals and anus” and “digitally penetrated her vagina.” It also says the boy threatened the girl by saying he would kill her if she screamed or sought help.
“This should never happen,” Keith Gould, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, said. “The WVDHHR employees knew the background of the abuser and of the presence of small defenseless children, yet they allowed the attacker the opportunity to prey on this little girl.
“She and her family will deal with the pain of this attack and the consequences of the defendants’ gross negligence for the rest of their lives.”
The attorneys also say the DHHR still has not taken responsibility for the incident, which they say has only caused further grief to the family.
Her parents say C.Z. has suffered physical and permanent psychological harm. They say they have suffered economic and irreparable emotional and psychological harm.
They accuse the defendants of gross negligence, violation of statute/regulation and respondeat superior. They seek compensatory damages for past and future medical expenses, pain, suffering, humiliation, permanent injury and loss of enjoyment of life. They also seek pre- and post-judgment interest, court costs, attorney fees and other relief.
They are being represented by Gould and Miley of The Miley Legal Group in Clarksburg.
Monongalia Circuit Court case number 22-C-131