Yakima Lawsuit Filed by Sisters Over Horrific Child Abuse

A major lawsuit has been filed on behalf of two sisters, now age 12, who were taken from a foster home and placed with their drug-abusing mother, resulting in horrible abuse. Their mother was arrested and has been in prison since early 2016.

This is according to the suit filed in Yakima County Superior court against the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF).  The suit was filed by Tamaki Law Firm, and authorities with the case say it's one of the worst examples of child abuse they've ever seen.

The two girls, identified by only their initials-AJ and MJ- because they are still minors, had been taken from their biological mother when they were 7, and placed in a foster home due to drug addiction and other problems with the mother.

The lawsuit claims the girls were forcibly removed from what court papers called "a loving and safe foster home" and returned to the mother. This resulted in extreme abuse.

According to court papers from Tamaki Law:

"After being placed with their biological mother at age 7, DCYF failed to check on their health and safety. In their mother’s home they were isolated in one room and forced to live in the dark. They were starved, forced to urinate and defecate on the floor, and not allowed to attend school. After several months in their mother’s home with no health and safety checks by social workers, a family member found them weighing 44 pounds, half of their normal body weight, laying in their own feces in the dark and begging for food and water."

The mother ended up being charged with two counts each of 3rd degree assault of a child and also criminal mistreatment. She is serving a ten year prison sentence. Attorneys for the girls said it was the worst case of child abuse they had seen in their 20 plus years of working and representing such abuse allegations.

The mother, Kai Martinez, was convicted in 2015, according to sources. Now four years later, the suit has been filed against DCYF. For more on this story, click on the button below.