Lawsuit alleges home didn't protect girl; Masons, volunteer also named as defendants in suit

Author: SUSAN BROILI sbroili@heraldsun.com; 918-1036

A civil lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court on behalf of a female child alleges that the Masonic Home for Children at Oxford Inc. didn't protect the minor from sexual abuse from a volunteer.

The volunteer, James Matthew McDaniel-Webb, of Fuquay-Varina, was also named as a defendant in the suit, according to court records.

McDaniel-Webb now faces both federal and state charges that stem from his alleged behavior toward the lawsuit's plaintiff, said attorney Lynne Holtkamp, who filed the lawsuit on July 2.

The state felony charges filed in February and March 2003 charge Daniel-Webb with one count of sexual activity by a substitute parent, one count of indecent liberties with a child and two counts of felony statutory rape/sexual offense, according to court records.

The lawsuit also names as a defendant the Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina, the owner and operator of the Masonic Home for Children at Oxford Inc.

It asks for compensatory damages of more than $10,000 -- the exact amount to be determined by a jury -- from each of the three defendants named in the case.

The lawsuit alleges that the Grand Lodge and Masonic home had a duty to protect the children in their care from the increased risk of sexual abuse and exploitation by their staff and volunteers.

The lawsuit went on to detail the allegations.

The child's adoptive parents placed her in the care of the Masonic Home from Jan. 18, 2001, to Aug. 3, 2001, according to the lawsuit.

The Grand Lodge and Masonic Home knew or should have known that the girl was the victim of "recent substantiated child neglect by the adoptive parents who placed her in their care; had been diagnosed with emotional and behavior disorders; [and] was under a protective plan with the Vance-Granville Department of Social Services, which required immediate counseling by an experienced and credentialed therapist," according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that the Grand Lodge and Masonic Home should have been aware of this and should not have taken the minor plaintiff under their care because at the time, they were not authorized to accept children with emotional and behavioral disorders.

Instead, between May 2001 and July 2001, the Grand Lodge and Masonic Home allowed McDaniel-Webb "to take the minor plaintiff, then age 12, and another female child to his home on several unsupervised overnight weekend visits," according to the lawsuit.

Lawyers believe that in July 2001, "as a result of the two incidents of inappropriate and pedophilic behavior," the defendants stopped allowing McDaniel-Webb to have unsupervised visits with the girl, according to the lawsuit.

But subsequently, McDaniel-Webb contacted the girl's adoptive parents, and offered to pay them to consent to his obtaining legal custody of her. In August 2001, "the adoptive parents notified the Masonic Home of their desire to give custody of the 12-year-old plaintiff to McDaniel-Webb," according to the lawsuit.

"Without taking any action to protect the minor plaintiff, the defendants merely advised that they were opposed to the decision, and then promptly released the 12-year-old minor plaintiff to McDaniel-Webb," according to the lawsuit.

Between October 2001 and January 2003, when the girl was 12 and 13, she was "repeatedly sexually assaulted by defendant McDaniel-Webb," according to the lawsuit.

McDaniel-Webb was arrested in January 2003 and charged with numerous counts of sexual assault against the girl. He's also facing federal and state charges, according to the lawsuit.

The girl will require "lifelong medical care and treatment," and is entitled to damages to offset the resulting expenses, according to the lawsuit.

A lawsuit represents only one side in a legal dispute. The defendants have not yet responded to the allegations in court.