$8-million civil suit filed against Shenandoah County Social Services Department

On Monday, February 11, the attorney for a Shenandoah County couple announced the filing of an $8 million civil suit against seven employees of the county’s Department of Social Services related to their 2009 adoption of a child through the agency.

The suit alleges that named personnel of the Shenandoah County Department of Social Services withheld vital information about the then eight-year-old boy’s psychological and behavioral history prior to the adoption being finalized. And the suit names a third party witness to substantiate that claim.

A press release from the office of attorney Nancie Williams of the Front Royal law firm of Williams & Bell states of the basis of the civil claim that the cited employees failed “to disclose any information about a child to the adoptive parent and, in particular, concealed a report that was made to the Department about the child sexually molesting another child prior to the adoption being finalized.”

The plaintiffs are Gregory Gene Long & Anna Marie Long; the seven defendants are John T. Ayers, Mary Westcott, Judy Bell, Bridget Diehl, Michelle Cantner, Carla Taylor & Beth Dellulo/Oliff – all listed “In his/her personal capacity” with the Shenandoah County Department of Social Services.

The civil filing states, “This action arises from the illegal and fraudulent actions of the Defendants in their failure to properly disclose the background, psychological and medical records of Mason Long (formerly Mason James Steward) prior to his adoption and in their false representations, under oath, of the Circuit Court of Shenandoah County that they had made such disclosures,” adding that, “This action also arises from the Defendants actions in materially misrepresenting Mason Long’s needs during the adoption process thereby inducing the Plaintiffs into a contractual obligation with the Defendants. The action further arises from the intentional and continued actions of the Defendants which caused extreme emotional distress, loss of wages and other losses to the Plaintiffs.”

The complaint states that in the fall of 2009 the couple began providing short-term custodial care (respite care) to Mason, who was 8 years old at the time, while at the same time providing respite care to another child – “JS” – another minor in custody of county social services.

The suit alleges that after being approached in December 2009 by defendant Beth Oliff about a permanent adoption of Mason, that the couple asked Oliff and Mary Westcott about “relevant family and mental health” histories of the child”. The Longs were told that information was “confidential” and could not be disclosed, the suit states.

After another inquiry by the Long’s for “relevant information” about the child, including medical, psychological and family histories, the civil case states the couple was told “there was no information known to the foster parents, nor any information that had been provided by Shenandoah County DSS.”

Mason was then placed with the Longs on February 13, 2010 with the “goal of adoption”. The Longs soon noted “disturbing behaviors including but not limited to angry outbursts, temper tantrums and habitual lying” the suit continues.

Continued inquiries by the couple were met with the “confidentiality” response, or that “there as no relevant family history,” or that it was normal “trauma” behavior that would eventually subside.

Through February to October as the adoption process continued the Longs continued to provide respite care to the second child, J.S. And by November 2010 while seeing some positive behaviors, the couple was also noticing abusive, physically violent behavior by Mason toward family pets. During this period they also had the boy examined for Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders.

On June 23, 2011, an adoption order for Mason was entered by the court making the Longs his legal parents. Included in the adoption order is a statement noting that a court-ordered investigation into the adoption “shall include a statement by the child-placing agency or local director that all reasonably ascertainable background, medical, and psychological records of the child have been provided to the prospective adoptive parents.”

The complaint states to the date of the civil suit filing in 2019, SC DSS or its employees had provided no information regarding Mason’s background, medical or psychological records. Withholding of such information from adoptive parents in writing or under oath is classified as a Class 6 Felony, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit alleges ongoing denial of funding for alternative treatment methods for the boy and a somewhat cavalier response to Mason’s parents concerns about the boy’s increasingly deteriorating and abusive behaviors. By 2015-16 when Mason was 14-15, that behavior included incidents of animal abuse, sexual contact with a neighbor’s horse, viewing of animal pornography in county public schools, and finally an admission of “inappropriate sexual contact” with another adopted child of the Longs identified as “GLJ”.

In June 2016 the Longs met with social services personnel at which they expressed “grave concerns” about the boy’s continued sexual contact with the neighbor’s horse and expressed a belief he could benefit from placement in a residential facility that specialized in sexual abuse behaviors.

The contend defendants Judy Bell and Michelle Cantner responded that “if Mason did not want to go into treatment” they had “to respect his wishes.”

However after Mason’s admission to his parents and to a therapist Kelly Sharpes in Harrisonburg, the boy was admitted as a patient in September 2016 to the North Springs Behavioral Treatment Center (North Springs).

The suit cites the parents eventually asking for a “psychosexual polygraph” for Mason at the North Springs. Given in January 2017, the civil suit states, “Mason revealed numerous incidents of inappropriate sexual contact with siblings and foster children while in the custody of the Longs and prior to his adoption.”

The Longs then forwarded the result of the psychosexual polygraph to the Shenandoah County Sheriff’s Office. On July 5, 2017, at age 17, Mason was charged in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court with four counts of Aggravated Sexual Battery of a child less than 13 years of age.

Then the civil suit drops its first alleged bombshell. The mother of one of the boy’s admitted past victims (J.S.) then reported in an interview with the sheriff’s office that “she had previously reported J.S.’s claims of sexual battery by Mason to Beth Oliff and Judy Bell with Shenandoah County DSS in early May 2011 … In said meeting she recounted in graphic detail her son’s claim that Mason had sexually molested him.” In May 2011 that meeting would have occurred about a month-and-a-half prior to the Longs’ adoption of Mason being finalized.

Bombshell allegation number two, the suit alleges victim J.S.’s mother told the sheriff’s investigator the two county social services personnel told her, “You are aware he is being adopted in a month” and “this meeting never happened.”

The civil suit notes that Mason pled guilty to all four counts of Aggravated Sexual Battery and was given “an indefinite term of confinement with the Department of Juvenile Justice where he now serves his time.”

It then references a newspaper article appearing at the time of the charges that listed the family’s street address. The publicity led to the Plaintiffs suffering “additional ridicule in their community and severe mental and emotional anguish.”

That anguish is the tip of the iceberg on the claimed damages, which include Anna Long having to quit her 25 to 30-hour a week job at the Valley Baptist Christian School and Greg Long having to utilize an average of a 144 missed work days per year classified as “sick leave” to deal with Mason’s issues. Consequently he had lost the ability to claim the unused sick leave hours in his retirement package.

The final of 123 specific items listed in the lawsuit prior to the counts alleged against the social services personnel in concealing known information about Mason states, “If the Longs had been told of the allegations of sexual misconduct by Mason prior to the adoption, they would not have completed the adoption due to their desire to have additional children.”

The civil action then alleges Fraud in DSS staff claims of no relevant background information, Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, Negligence, Fraud in inducement toward the adoption, and Breach of Contract in “refusing to provide necessary treatment and care for Mason” as his condition deteriorated as a part of the Long family.