Civil trial set for abuse case

Civil trial set for abuse case
by John Burnett

Tribune-Herald Staff Writer
Published: Sunday, February 14, 2010 8:14 AM HST

Lawsuit alleges school knew about girl's situation
A trial date has been set for a civil lawsuit filed on behalf of an abused girl found in a coma with burn marks and maggot-infested wounds.

The lawsuit was filed by the victim's grandfather against the girl's former caregiver, Hyacinth Poouahi, who a year ago was sentenced to a 20-year prison term for abusing the girl. The victim was 9 when the abuse began in Poouahi's Ainaloa home in late 2004. Other defendants include the girl's biological mother, Crystal McGrath, who left the girl in Poouahi's care, and the state Departments of Education and Human Services.

The girl was in a coma for several weeks in a Honolulu hospital after her Feb. 7, 2005, rescue by Fire Department paramedics. Today, at age 15, she is severely speech- and hearing-impaired, blind in one eye, walks with a limp, and has facial disfigurement.


The girl was also tortured psychologically, being forced to eat cockroaches and Froot Loops mixed with chili peppers.

Unless a settlement is reached, the non-jury trial is scheduled to be heard by Hilo Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura at 9 a.m. Feb. 23.

Among the allegations is that personnel at Keonepoko Elementary School knew of the abuse as early as December 2004, but failed to notify either police or Child Protective Services. Honolulu attorney Arthur Park, who represents the girl's grandfather, Bienvenido Cabanting, on Thursday asked Nakamura for a pretrial ruling against the DOE for breaching its duty of care.

Nakamura took Park's request under advisement.

"If the DOE had done its job anywhere along the line in December '04 or January '05, then those catastrophic injuries would not have occurred," Park told the judge. "There would have been injuries, but not the catastrophic injuries. ... There is controverted or disputed evidence on what occurred prior to that time. But anything that occurred prior to a week before (hospitalization) was relatively minor to what she had when she was found on ... Feb. 7, '05."

According to the filing, teacher Lei Fanunu, guidance counselor Candace Thomson-Bott, and former DOE behavioral health specialist Stritama Sherreitt all testified in depositions that they told Keonepoko Principal Kathleen Romero of the abuse. The lawsuit says Romero denied in her deposition that she was notified by any of the three.

"There are a number of undisputed facts in this case that at this point the state has not really disputed or rebutted, and that would be that the two counselors and teacher Fanunu knew of abuse," Park asserted. "The abuse might have been hearsay, but the rule ... talks about suspected abuse. So even if it was hearsay, it should have been reported immediately."

Kenneth Robbins, a Honolulu attorney representing the DOE, told Nakamura: "There is a question that the teacher or the counselor is to be believed. ... And further, insofar as what teacher Fanunu was told or knew about a bruise on (the girl's) face is concerned, whether or not she had a duty to report to principal Romero depends on the credibility of (the girl) at that time, because she said that that was self-inflicted."

Park said it doesn't matter who failed to notify police or CPS when the girl's situation came to light.

"If we construe the facts most favorably for the state, accept principal Romero's ... position that she was never told nor was aware of this abuse, then those three school personnel violated their duty. They can't have it both ways," he argued.

"It's undisputed there was no report to the police or CPS. (The girl) was absent from school continuously from Dec. 16, three days before Christmas vacation, to Feb. 7, that's 28 or so continuous days, even taking into account holidays. That alone should have triggered an inquiry by the school. It was well-known among the counselors that (the girl) was absent. It was also undisputed that there was a predator child living in the Poouahi household. ... He was a prior student at Keonepoko School. ... He had beaten up another child. He punched a teacher. That's the thing that concerned (counselors), the potential abuse of (the girl). And as it turns out, he was one of the major abusers."

Park said afterwards that Thursday's hearing was "basically a preview of opening arguments in the trial."

E-mail John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
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