County failed repeatedly to stop sexual abuse of foster children

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(San Diego) County failed repeatedly to stop sexual abuse of foster children, lawsuit alleges

When a 6-year-old boy identified as A.G. in court records told his social worker in January 2006 that his foster father was hurting him, she dismissed his request for a new home.

When staff members at a family recovery center saw A.G. acting out sexually in 2007 and told the county they suspected his foster father was abusing him, the county did not intervene.

When San Diego County sheriff’s deputies in 2008 took A.G. to the county’s emergency shelter for children after an incident involving a neighbor child, A.G. told social workers that he was being sexually abused. He was returned to his foster father, Michael Jarome Hayes, within 18 hours.

Those lapses are alleged in a 2016 lawsuit by A.G. and his twin brother, M.G. They are suing the county and 14 of its social workers for leaving them at Hayes’ mercy despite more than a dozen reports of suspected abuse from an educator, a lawyer, a psychologist and others.