Washington State Agrees to Record-Breaking Settlement Over Foster Care Abuse

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) – The state of Washington has agreed to a $4 million settlement for two former foster children who were abused and sexually assaulted.

The record-breaking settlement comes out of a sex abuse lawsuit for the two sisters, who were four and two when they were sexually assaulted.

The lawsuit says they were placed in a foster home without safety monitoring for years.

They were sexually abused from 2006 to 2015.

Foster father Jose Cortez eventually pleaded guilty to first-degree child molestation.

The two sisters testified, saying their foster mother would hit, starve and force them to take cold showers while Cortez sexually molested and raped them.

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