$417,500 More Ruled For Ok Boys Lawsuit Charges Group Home Abuse

An arbitrator has ruled that the state must pay another $417,500 because documents were withheld and doctored in a lawsuit filed by former OK Boys Ranch residents.

The five-page ruling by former King County Superior Court Judge Charles S. Burdell Jr. brings the total paid by state taxpayers to about $9 million. By agreement of both sides, his decision is final.

Burdell’s order was issued Jan. 23, announced Thursday and filed Friday in Pierce County Superior Court, said Richard Kelley, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.

The state previously paid more than $8.5 million to settle three suits by 26 boys. A fourth lawsuit by other boys is scheduled for trial this fall.

Plaintiffs in the cases said they were physically and sexually abused by other residents and staffers at the state-licensed group home, operated by the Kiwanis Club of Olympia.

Youngsters 10 to 18 who had been abused, neglected or abandoned by their parents were sent to the home for therapy and other programs to help restore stability in their lives. Investigation revealed an absence of programs and supervision and incidents in which some residents bullied, raped and molested younger, weaker boys.

OK Boys Ranch was shut down in 1994 after a nearly $4.2 million settlement was reached in the first suit, which had been filed in 1993.

The arbitration resolved a claim for another $1.9 million by lawyers for the plaintiffs who said the settlement would have been larger had state officials fulfilled their responsibilities in the case.

“The facts demonstrate wrongdoing at the highest levels of government,” Kelley said. “We settled this case without knowing how high the culpability went.”

Burdell ruled that state lawyers wrongfully withheld documents damaging to their own case and provided other documents that had been altered.

He also singled out Joseph Montecucco, formerly a senior counsel in the state attorney general’s office, and Jean Soliz, former secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services.

Soliz should have informed state lawyers about a letter in which Ed Putman, an agency child care licensing specialist, linked problems at OK Boys Ranch to poor department management practices, Burdell wrote.

“Clearly, the most egregious violation was made by Ms. Soliz in not revealing the Putman letter to her attorneys,” the ruling said.

Montecucco, who did eventually learn of the letter, should have told lawyers for the boys about it, Burdell wrote.

Attorney General Christine O. Gregoire had maintained that an internal investigation cleared her staff of wrongdoing.

“We were outraged when the state denied this in 1995 and claimed it did nothing wrong,” said Mike Shaffer, who represented some of the boys. “The judge’s message was worth waiting for.

“If you break the rules, you will pay.”