TUSCALOOSA, Alabama – A dozen more people have been added as defendants in a lawsuit that alleges repeated sexual abuse of a minor resident at the W.D. Partlow Developmental Center in Tuscaloosa.
The suit was filed in December 2011 in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court by Birmingham attorney Tommy James on behalf of the victim and his family.
Partlow, a state-run facility for people with intellectual disabilities, was operated by the Alabama Department of Mental Health. It closed in December.
According to the lawsuit, a mentally disabled boy, who was 16 at the time, was admitted to Partlow for court-ordered treatment in May 2010. Shortly after his arrival, he was placed in the same home with a "known pedophile," who sexually abused the victim repeatedly.
Partlow staff members did not move him to another home, despite being told of the abuse, the suit claims.
"When an individual is admitted into any Department of Mental Health facility, their family members have every right to believe and expect that their loved ones are going to be properly cared for and kept safe from harm," James said.
The suit initially was filed against the Department of Mental Health, Commissioner Zelia Baugh, former commissioner John Houston, former Partlow director Rebecca Bellah and interim Partlow director Jeff Williams.
The new defendants in the case are all people who were present at a meeting when the victim's home placement was determined, according to the suit. They are: Bradley Pruett, Frankie Jackson, Jessica Reinhart, Tamara Dudley, Beverly Pepper, Patricia Sykes, Ernest Washington, Sheryl Matthews, Deborah Palmer, Elton Griffin, Rockne Burroughs and Shirletta Ash.
The case is set to go to trial Sept. 8 before Circuit Judge Bradley Almond.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a report in 2011 stating Partlow failed to protect the boy from his alleged abuser, who had been diagnosed with pedophilia and schizophrenia. Court commitment papers warned that he should be kept away from children.
"This report also stated that Partlow employees admitted that the perpetrator and my client should not have been in the same home. Additionally, according to court documents and exhibits in a previous case involving the same perpetrator, he had already raped another resident of Partlow and committed other sexual inappropriate acts towards other patients prior to my client being placed into his home," James said.