North Port boy sexually abused in foster homes, lawsuit alleges

North Port boy sexually abused in foster homes, lawsuit alleges | HeraldTribune.com

SARASOTA COUNTY - After moving from one foster home to another, and having twice been sexually abused by other children, the 10-year-old North Port boy wrote a suicide note and held a broken bottle up to his throat.

"I would try to kill myself and tonight I am gonna commit suicide by stabbing myself with a knife because no one care about me," the note said.

The boy did not commit suicide, but now his mother is accusing the foster care system of failing her child, allowing him to be the victim of two child-on-child sexual abuse incidents and providing no mental health treatment until he was driven to two suicide attempts.

The mother's lawsuit filed this month describes how the boy was moved to 11 different homes in 18 months. He stayed five months too long in a temporary foster home. He once wrapped a vacuum cord around his neck in a locked bedroom and got no immediate treatment.

"That he got to the point that he actually tried to kill himself at that age, it's just outrageous," said Sarasota attorney Richard Filson, who represents the mother. "He still has behavioral issues he's getting help for as a result of this."

The suit seeks more than $15,000 in damages from the following defendants: the Sarasota YMCA, Family Preservation Services of Florida, Manatee Children's Services, Florida Mentor Inc., foster parent Harriet Higgs, and the Florida Department of Children and Families.

The boy, now 13, has been reunited with his mother since May 2008. The Herald-Tribune is not naming the mother to protect the identity of her son.
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