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Officials called it the worst case of child abuse that they had ever seen. The abuse of four young boys resulted in a $12.5 million settlement to be paid by New Jersey’s child welfare agency. The agency settled in a lawsuit saying that the state neglected to watch over the four boys. The settlement is seen as one of the largest paid out in a child-neglect lawsuit.
The high profile case involved four boys who were found starving to death in their foster home. The investigation was prompted when one of the boys, Bruce Jackson, then 19, was found searching through garbage outside for food. He weighed less than 50 pounds at the time.
Authorities learned that the foster parents of the boys, Raymond and Vanessa Jackson, only fed them small amounts of dry cereal and kept the refrigerator locked. The foster parents defended themselves, saying that they were trying to keep the boys from gaining excessive weight.
The foster care system was seen to be primarily at fault because it had not kept up with watching over the boys or keeping in touch with the foster parents. Three of the boys will split $5 million and Bruce Jackson will receive $7.5 million. The older boy had been living with the Jacksons for four years longer than his brothers.