Two Iowa children who faced severe physical abuse, neglect and torture by their adoptive parents are set to receive a total of $10 million from the state under a settlement approved Monday by the three-member State Appeal Board.
The two kids were adopted siblings of Sabrina Ray, a 16-year-old from Perry who died of starvation in 2017. All three kids were adopted out of the foster care system by Marc and Misty Ray, who are now in prison.
A 2020 state ombudsman report said the Iowa Department of Human Services (now the Department of Health and Human Services) could have prevented Sabrina’s death. The investigation found state workers wrongly rejected several child abuse complaints made against the Rays between 2010 and 2015.
Those child abuse reports accused the Rays of withholding food, forcing their foster children to eat their own vomit, and beating their adopted and foster children.
Scott Wadding, the attorney representing Sabrina’s adopted siblings, said their claims against the state were largely based on the findings of the 2020 report.
“The investigations throughout this case have all revealed that these children were all abused in a really horrific way,” he said.
The new settlement requires the state to form a task force by the end of this year to review the implementation of child safety recommendations from the 2020 report.
Wadding said that part of the settlement is “critically important,” and that he hopes it marks the beginning of a new era for Iowa’s foster care system.
“We look forward to working with the governor’s office, as well as Director Garcia with DHHS, to fully implement the recommendations and to improve the safety of foster care in the future,” Wadding said.
The task force will include the current adoptive parent of M.D. and the co-guardian of H.R., as well as police officer Josh Sienkiewicz, who initially investigated the Rays’ crimes.
A spokesperson for DHHS did not return a request for comment by Monday afternoon. The state is not admitting wrongdoing by agreeing to the settlement.
In a letter submitted to the State Appeal Board, Deputy Attorney General Stan Thompson wrote the two children, identified as M.D. and H.R., experienced “significant physical and emotional damage” as a result of living with the Rays.
“In short, the amount of abuse committed by the Rays is indefensible, and the foster-care system’s failures to protect the children were significant,” Thompson wrote.
Each child sought $50 million from the state, but the parties agreed to $5 million each. About $2 million for each child will go to their lawyers, with the rest to be deposited in a Special Needs Trust for each child that would be overseen by the Iowa District Court for Polk County.
Wadding has also represented a boy who was allegedly kicked and denied food by the Rays when he attended their in-home daycare. The state agreed to pay $500,000 to the boy’s family last year.
