DCF Seeks To Sever Ties To Allains' Suit

By KYLE MARTIN

BROOKSVILLE - The Department of Children and Families wants a judge to sever the agency's ties to a lawsuit filed against a pair of foster parents doing time in prison for child abuse.

The main target of the lawsuit is Arthur and Lori Allain, who were arrested in 2004 after a 10-year-old girl under their care was found to weigh only 29 pounds.

Her brother, John Joseph Edwards, turned 18 last year and promptly sued the Allain's for negligence, battery and false imprisonment. Among his grievances laid out in the lawsuit are "physical and mental torture," to include starvation, beatings, head shaving and "unlawful confinement."

Both of the Allain's have filed official denials to the allegations from their respective prisons.

DCF is taking their denial a step farther by asking the presiding judge to dismiss two of the counts against them. The first count is negligence against Kids Central Inc., the private arm of the government agency that provided the caseworker who was supposed to be monitoring the Allain's at home.

That caseworker, Cathy Kelly, is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also accuses DCF of "vicarious liability" and the agency wants that charge dropped, too.

Their reasoning, spelled in a legal petition to dismiss, is foremost that the dates the allegations occurred are not provided in the original complaint. The petition says: How can the agency be sure it's liable without knowing when the alleged abuse happened?

The second basis given in the petition is that Edwards did not follow proper protocol by filing a notice of intent to sue a government entity. By Florida law, six months warning must be given.

There is no notice of intent included in the court file.

Reporter Kyle Martin can be reached at 352-544-5271 or kmartin@hernandotoday.com.