NJ Woman Sues DYFS For Sex Abuse Suffered As Child, Given $25 Million

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — This week, a jury in Middlesex County awarded a historic $25 million to an adult woman who said she was sexually abused as a child in the New Jersey foster care system.

A jury of seven people agreed to the judgement Tuesday against the Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCP&P). It was called the NJ Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) when the woman, then a child, was under its care.

The woman, now in her 30s, currently resides in New Jersey. She was named in her lawsuit, but Patch will not name her to protect her privacy as a crime victim.

The woman became a ward of the state at the age of 3, when she was removed from her parents' care due to their drug abuse.

She sued in 2019, alleging the agency placed her with foster caretakers who sexually molested her. She said she was sexually abused by foster parents in three different homes, from when she was 6 to 9 years old.

She said when she reported the sex abuse, her social workers failed to adequately investigate, and failed to remove her from the foster homes.

The woman said in total, four different adults molested her from 1990-1993, two of whom had since been criminally convicted, said her lawyers. The two men convicted are George Wilson and his son, Christopher Wilson, who she said both molested her.

They were convicted in 1998/99 of sex assault, according to the woman's lawyers.

Her lawsuit was the first case brought to trial under the Child Victims Act. The Child Victims Act is a new law in New Jersey that suspended the prior existing statute of limitations for civil claims arising from child sexual abuse. The law gives anyone who suffered child sex abuse in New Jersey a time window to file civil lawsuits seeking financial restitution.

Her lawsuit alleges DYFS of "negligent and reckless failure" for her well-being, and for failing to monitor and supervise foster families.

On Tuesday, the jury of seven Middlesex County residents found DCP&P was 99 percent liable for gross negligence against the woman. The $25 million settlement it awarded to her was the first of its kind, and sets a precedent for future lawsuits filed by adults who say they were abused while in the state's foster care system.

The woman was represented by two different law firms: Matthew Bonanno, of Rebenack Aronow & Mascolo and Vincent Nappo of Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala. Those two law firms are currently representing nearly 175 Child Victims Act-related cases across the state of New Jersey.