Kyle Ramirez is suing Child Protective Services in Sacramento County. The teenager's California injury claim blames the agency for ignoring the chronic abuse that his mother's friend Caren Ramirez inflicted upon him. Kyle, now 18, is seeking unspecified damages.
If you will recall, Kyle's story became national news in December 2008 when he escaped from a California home. He says that he had been chained to table, starved, beaten, burned, and cut. He managed to use a trampoline to jump over a wall. He still had a chain attached to his ankle when he walked into a health club.
Kyle's mother, a teenager, had given up custody of her two sons to Caren several years ago. The teenager's California personal injury lawyer, however, says that legal rights to the boys was never given to Caren and that CPS allowed the brothers to stay with him because of a handwritten note giving him guardianship.
Kyle's California injury attorney contends that CPS had at least six chances to get the boys out of the abusive situation but failed to act. At one point, Kyle's older brother even pleaded with authorities to rescue the younger boy.
Caren, Kelly Lau, and her husband Michael Schumacher have each been sentenced to over 30 years in prison for child abuse. Anthony Walters, who was also convicted, will be sentenced later this month.
A claim against a county or city is often a precursor to a California personal injury lawsuit. If you have been the victim of abuse and Child Protective Services or another government entity could have stopped or prevented the abuse, you may have grounds for an Orange County, California injury case. You also may have a case against your abuser.
Abuse of any kind is a crime and causes serious physical, psychological, and emotional injuries. Kids who are in the foster care system are especially vulnerable, which is why case workers and others involved with supervising their care must ensure that they are placed in homes that are safe and free from abuse.
Teen shackled, abused in Calif. home files claim, The OC Register, February 9, 2011
Abused boy files claim against Sacramento child protection agency, The Sacramento Bee, February 9, 2011
Family of Kyle Ramirez has many things to be grateful for this Thanksgiving, Contra Costa Times, November 24, 2010
Related Web Resource:
Child Protective Services, California
