Wash. to pay $2.9M to sex abuse victim

Friday, May 4, 2012

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) -- Washington state has agreed to pay nearly $2.9 million to a woman who said she was sexually abused by her father following an inadequate investigation into her case by social workers.

The News Tribune of Tacoma reports (http://is.gd/7olhf1) that the settlement was accepted in Pierce County Superior Court on Friday.

The woman, now 21, said she'd been living with her father in 2004 when he was arrested for investigation of child molestation. The Department of Social and Health Services investigated, but closed the case as unfounded and allowed the father and daughter to be reunited -- despite molestation claims from other children and warnings from concerned neighbors.

The girl eventually ran away in 2005, and her father was arrested and convicted.

DSHS said in a news release the settlement fairly compensates the woman.

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Information from: The News Tribune, http://www.thenewstribune.com