Washington State DSHS and Others Pay $6 Million to Neglected Boy
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Representatives for a neglected and food-deprived little boy reached a $6 million dollar settlement.
Shayne Abegg, a 6 year old who was a skeletal weight of 25 pounds when police rescued him in March 2007, will receive $6 million from the state of Washington and two other defendants in a settlement reached Tuesday.
The state's portion, $5 million, is the largest payment to a child victim ever by the Department of Social and Health Services. The boy's therapist and her employer, a social-service agency, are the two other defendants.
When rescued, the boy was covered in bruises and sores, his temperature had dropped to 87 degrees, and he was unable to sit or stand without assistance. A judge compared his condition to someone in a Nazi concentration camp.
The lawsuit alleged four caseworkers had missed a pattern of abuse and neglect, including reports that the boy was malnourished and had hoarded food.
"This little boy who was neglected by the state for 14 months while they received warning after warning that he was being starved and neglected will now have the resources to take care of himself for the remainder of his life," said the boy's lawyer, David Moody, of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro law firm in Seattle.
The boy's father, Danny Abegg, and his girlfriend, Marilea Mitchell, were sentenced to eight years in prison last year. They were convicted of criminal mistreatment for withholding food from Shayne as punishment.
The lawsuit alleged that the therapist failed to report signs of abuse, despite billing for work for regular visits he allegedly did up until the boy's rescue.