OLYMPIA, Wash. (Legal Newsline) - The estate of a man who blamed the State of Washington for sexual abuse while in the foster care system filed its lawsuit in time, the state Supreme Court has ruled.
A Sept. 7 ruling by the court in the late Timothy Jones' case says his estate had three years to sue, starting when he discovered the State's role in sexual abuse partly caused the injury for which he considered suing before his suicide in 2018.
The court rejected the State's argument that Jones had made the connection between his abuse and injuries long before 2017, when he contacted a law firm about possible representation. The suit was filed in 2020.
The Supreme Court overturned the state's Court of Appeals, which had agreed with the State. The Supreme Court was swayed by declarations from friends and family that said Jones never indicated he had connected his injuries to the State.
"(T)he period within which a victim must bring a claim begins when the victim connects the wrongful conduct of a third party to the victim's injury," the decision says.
"As the party arguing the affirmative defense that the statute of limitations has run, the State bears the burden of proof. The State offered no evidence that Timothy made any connection between the State's actions and his injuries."
The ruling strikes summary judgment for the State and allows the case to move forward, possibly toward trial.
At around 13 years old in 2003, Jones moved in with Price Nick Miller, Jr., a family friend, after his mother lost her home to foreclosure. Later that year, he was removed from Miller's residence because of a report that Miller was paying "too much attention to children who were not his own," the decision says.
In November that year, he was placed in foster care. Miller visited Jones at his foster home despite orders not to, and he did the same when Jones was placed in a second foster home.
Jones' counselor knew of Miller's actions and had told Miller to leave at least two supervised visits between Jones and his mother, Jacqueline. Miller hid in the parking lot during another visitation.
Jones told a counselor in 2006 that Miller had sexually abused him during the eight years prior. The counselor reported the abuse, and Miller was sentenced to 119 months to life in prison. He was also mentioned in lawsuits against the Boy Scouts of America and accused of sexually abusing children while a scoutmaster.
Mom Jacqueline sued Miller in 2007 or 2008 but their lawyer did not tell Jones or his mother there could be a lawsuit against the State for allowing Miller's abuse to occur.
In mid-2017, Jones and his boyfriend discussed whether he had a claim against the State after seeing a news story. Later that year, he contacted a law firm that began investigating, but Jones committed suicide on June 2, 2018.
The suit was filed anyway in 2020, alleging wrongful death and negligence. The fact that Jacqueline and Jones had already filed a lawsuit over the abuse did not show that Jones knew he had a claim against the State, the decision says.
"By enacting RCW 4.16.340, lawmakers ensured that the discovery of an earlier, less serious injury should not affect the time period to ring claims based on injures discovered later," the decision says.
"In other words, the memory of harm for a childhood abuse victim may reveal itself at different points in time."