WASHINGTON FOSTER CARE SEXUAL ABUSE LAWSUITS

Fighting for Survivors of Sexual Abuse in Washington Foster Care & Group Homes

Based on reports, investigations and lawsuits, children in Washington, defenseless and trusting, have been sent into homes where they were abused—abuses that reportedly could have been prevented if the state or the proper agencies had done its job. 

At Levy Konigsberg, we stand with survivors of foster care abuse in Washington. We know how much strength it takes to come forward, and we are here to fight for you. If you or someone you love has suffered abuse in foster care in Washington, contact Levy Konigsberg today for a free and confidential consultation. You deserve justice, and we are committed to helping you get it.

High-Profile Payouts Illustrate How Survivors Can Use Civil Suits to Secure Justice

A number of high-profile legal filings, settlements, and verdicts have illustrated how government-operated foster care systems, private programs, and other responsible entities can be held liable for failures to protect foster children who are sexually abused. These cases have served an important purpose in highlighting systemic issues within foster care systems and have shown how survivors can harness the power of the civil justice system to secure the compensation they deserve.

Some examples in Washington include:

• In September 2025, a Spokane jury ordered Washington state to pay $42 million to a woman the state failed to protect from years of childhood sexual abuse.  According to court filings, the plaintiff alleged that despite the 1990 conviction of plaintiff’s stepfather for raping her sister, the state’s Department of Corrections and Child Protective Services allowed him back into the plaintiff’s life.  Over the next decade, the plaintiff alleged that the state repeatedly failed to step in to protect her from the sexual abuse of her stepfather and others.   In 1998, for example, the plaintiff’s mother told Child Protective Services that she’d seen the stepfather molesting the plaintiff.  And the plaintiff disclosed abuse from two years earlier that she hadn’t shared out of fear of her mother blaming her.  Still, CPS left the plaintiff in her mother’s home with a finding she faced “little or no risk” of abuse.

• In July 2024, the state of Washington settled for $5 million each with three women who were allegedly sexually abused by two teenage sons of their foster parents between 1990 and 2000.  The abuse allegedly began when the women were 4, 5, and 6 years old and continued into their teen years after they were formally adopted by their foster mother. The sisters have stated that they hold the State of Washington primarily responsible for the abuse and that they allegedly rarely saw their social worker and described the foster home as a cult-like environment with extreme religious beliefs. They were also allegedly severely physically punished and abused including being hit with a belt and forced to stand in the rain naked for hours. 

• In December 2020, the state of Washington settled for $2 million with a woman who was allegedly raped and molested by her foster father, Abel Ortega. Ortega had allegedly already been accused of abusing another foster child before she was placed in his home and the state allegedly ignored her reports of sexual abuse. In 1995, when she was 3 years old, she was placed in the home where the alleged abuse began.  In 2004, she allegedly reported the alleged abuse to officials, but she was not removed from the home.  She reportedly only got away in 2009 when she went to the police to again report the alleged sexual abuse and rape.

• In March 2015, the state of Washington settled for $1.3 million with a woman who alleged that the state failed to protect her from abuse in three licensed foster homes.  She was allegedly sexually abused by her foster father at 4 years old. At another home, she was also allegedly sexually abused by her foster father and his son.

• In May 2009, the state of Washington’s Washington Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) reportedly settled for $2 million with two women who alleged that they endured years of physical and sexual abuse in a foster home in the 1980s. One victim alleged her foster father began raping her at age 6. By age 8, he allegedly forced her to shower with him and walk around wearing only his wife’s underwear.  The foster parents allegedly beat their foster children, forced them to endure sadistic punishments, made them eat frozen bread for days as punishment for overeating at school, and forced them to hit each other. The attorneys for the women, now in their early 20s, said they’d discovered evidence in DSHS files that the agency had received multiple warnings of possible abuse over years, yet failed to act.

• In 2008, eight boys received an $11 million settlement from Seattle, Tacoma, and DSHS for failing to stop sexual abuse by a foster father who also posted explicit photos of the abuse online.

• In 2007, four siblings were awarded $6.2 million after a jury found the state negligent for licensing an abusive foster mother in Seattle.

Do I Have a Case?

You may have grounds to file a civil legal action if you were sexually abused in a foster care home.

As civil claims, these cases are separate from any criminal proceedings that may arise from abuse and focus instead on holding institutions liable for damages. This means you may still have a claim even if:

• Your abuser is no longer alive.
• Your abuser was never charged with or convicted of a crime.

Recoverable Damages in Sexual Abuse Claims

In addition to providing accountability and a sense of justice, civil sex abuse lawsuits allow survivors to recover financial compensation for their damages, which may include:

• Past medical and mental health expenses
• Future mental health expenses, including therapy, medications, etc.
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional anguish and psychological harm
• Lost income
• Other economic and non-economic damages

Washington Sexual Abuse Attorneys

Under current Washington state law, survivors of sexual abuse have three years from the date of their abuse, or three years from the date they discover the connection between their injuries (which can include addiction, self-harm, and other mental health issues) and the abuse (or a defendant’s actions that led to the abuse), to file civil lawsuits.

In March 2024, the governor signed into law a bill (House Bill 1618) removing the statute of limitations for civil claims related to child sexual abuse. As a result, for any sexual abuse occurring on or after June 6, 2024, there is no deadline to file.

However, the new law is not retroactive, meaning that it does not apply to sexual abuse that occurred before June 6, 2024. Survivors of sexual abuse that occurred before this time still have three years from the date of their abuse, or three years from the date they discover the connection between their injuries and the abuse or actions that led to the abuse, to file civil lawsuits. 

Levy Konigsberg is actively investigating allegations of sexual abuse at any Washington foster home.

We are here for survivors of sexual abuse in foster care—listening, supporting, and fighting for justice. Every child deserves safety, and we are committed to holding those who failed them accountable while working toward a future where no child has to endure such pain.