DSHS to pay $2.4M after caretaker abuses disabled woman

SEATTLE -- A Superior Court judge signed off on a $2.4 million settlement Tuesday, after a state appointed caretaker's horrifying abuse of a developmentally disabled woman. The victim described being raped, starved and neglected.

"This is a person with disabilities. She's vulnerable to the extreme," said attorney David P. Moody.

KOMO News is not identifying the 38-year old victim, but because of her love for the movie Frozen, she is being referred to as "Elsa."

"She's very subject to being exploited. I would call her very naive and trusting," Moody said.

Elsa isn't the only one who trusted Jonathan Marschall. DSHS trusted him too, to be a state appointed caretaker

It's a decision that led to more than a year of mistreatment,

The agency's own investigation found Marschall abused and exploited Elsa. including when he withheld food.

"Mr. Marshall the caretaker was starving her out, so she would look like a prepubescent girl, so he could further victimize her by prostituting her on Craigslist," attorney Moody said.

Elsa later told police she was raped multiple times at their apartment in Belltown and various hotels.

And Moody says it all could have been avoided if DSHS did some standard research.

"Oftentimes we see DSHS failing to check references or failing to pick up on something in someone's record," Moody said. "But in this case, DSHS had the record right in front of it."

That's because in June of 2010, Marschall applied for state help through the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, a branch of DSHS.

He got assistance after being deemed "significantly disabled," resulting in "serious limitations."

A few months later, DSHS signed off on Marschall again - this time, to be Elsa's caretaker.

He listed his parents as a reference, but they say they never heard from the agency.

If they had, his mother says "We would have told DSHS .. he's clearly not capable or competent.." and "he needed help with his own issues."

"Warning after warning, bright red warning flags were waving in front of the caseworkers, but they weren't doing anything about it," Moody said.

The abuse didn't end until Elsa went to police. Marschall was convicted of assault, and in a separate case, of promoting prostitution in Kitsap County.

He served his time and is now free.

DSHS released a statement via Evelyn Perez, Assistant Secretary for the Developmental Disabilities Administration: "It's always upsetting to learn of abuse, especially the abuse of a vulnerable adult. We hope the money from this settlement will be used by the client to get the help she needs to recover from that traumatic time in her life." (Read Full Statement Here).