A White Salmon man is suing the Klickitat County Sheriff’s Office, the state Department of Social and Health Services, and a DSHS employee for negligence in their conduct of an investigation of alleged child sexual abuse in December 2012.
Van B. Hicks claims in a complaint for damages originally filed July 10 in Thurston County Superior Court, ”As a result of defendants’ negligence and negligent investigation, [he] was deprived of his liberty and his parental rights, and has sustained substantial damage to his reputation in his community.”
Hicks is seeking a judgment of economic damages (lost wages, benefits), non-economic damages (for emotional distress, stress, and anxiety), out-of-pocket expenses, litigation costs, and reasonable attorney’s fees, punitive damages, and any additional relief the court deems just and equitable — all to be proven at trial.
The Klickitat County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Van B. Hicks with child molestation in the first degree on Jan. 2, 2013, and the Superior Court entered a sexual assault protection order that prohibited Hicks from having contact with his children.
DSHS, after reviewing the “founded” finding of the social worker assigned to investigate an allegation of child sexual abuse against Hicks, exonerated Hicks, notifying him on July 30, 2013, that it had changed its finding to “unfounded.”
On Sept. 2, 2013, the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office dropped the charge against Hicks. Finally, on Feb. 4, 2014, the Superior Court awarded Hicks primary custody of his two children.
Hicks was arrested by KCSO Sgt. Erik Anderson at 11 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2012, after Anderson sat through interviews earlier in the day with Hicks’ daughters at the state Child Protective Services office in White Salmon. Shirley DeArmond, DSHS employee, was assigned by CPS to conduct the interviews.
The complaint stated Anderson left the interview immediately and went to arrest Hicks, who was not at home. Anderson returned that night to take Hicks into custody.
According to the complaint for damages Hicks’ attorneys filed in Clark County Superior Court this month, Anderson determined after the interviews that probable cause to arrest Hicks existed “to arrest Mr. Hicks for the crime of Child Molestation in the First Degree.” The complaint alleges that neither DSHS nor KCSO attempted to interview Hicks before his arrest.
CPS informed Hicks on June 6, 2013, that DSHS had determined, based on the investigative reports prepared by DeArmond, that the allegation of sexual abuse was “founded.” Hicks appealed the finding. That same day, CPS reassigned the Hicks case from DeArmond to Donna McGill.
McGill undertook an independent review of the interviews with the Hicks children and DeArmond’s reports. McGill arrived at a conclusion that the allegation of sexual assault was “unfounded.”
On July 30, 2013, DSHS notified Hicks it had changed its finding to “unfounded.”
Hicks alleges in his complaint that DSHS and KCSO breached a duty to conduct their investigation of child abuse in a reasonable manner. It further alleges DSHS breached its common law duty when it assigned “a biased employee to investigate” an allegation raised by Hicks’ wife and mother of their children, Chelsy Moss. The couple separated in November 2012 and is currently undergoing a divorce, Hicks’ complaint states.
According to the complaint, Moss contacted the CPS office in White Salmon on Dec. 17, 2012, to report alleged sexual misconduct by Hicks against his youngest child. CPS assigned DeArmond to investigate Moss’ allegation, even though DeArmond’s daughter is a close personal friend to Moss and her granddaughter is a close friend of one of the Hicks children, Hicks’ complaint states.
DeArmond informed DSHS of this potential conflict, but DSHS elected to keep her on the case, the complaint states.
CPS referred Moss’ allegation to KCSO sometime after Dec. 17, 2012, and on Dec. 27, 2012, Anderson and DeArmond went to interview Moss about her claim.
The lawsuit originated in Thurston County Superior Court but got transferred to Clark County on a motion by the county and DSHS for a change of venue. The case was refiled in Clark County on Oct. 13.
The Enterprise contacted Hicks’ attorney, Tyler K. Firkins, of an Auburn law firm, by e-mail last week for an update on the case but did not receive a response prior to this week’s press deadline.
KCSO is being represented by attorneys for the county’s insurance carrier, first-year Prosecuting Attorney David Quesnel told The Enterprise last week.
Quesnel said, “A Notice of Appearance should have been filed but an answer [to the complaint] is still being drafted.”
The state Attorney General’s Office is representing DSHS in the matter.
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