"Jane Doe" - 9 yo (2005) - Ainaloa HI

by TomTerrific0420 Mon Feb 15, 2010 1:14 pm

A trial date has been set for a civil lawsuit filed
on behalf of an abused girl found in a coma with
burn marks and maggot-infested wounds.

Unless a settlement is reached, the nonjury trial
is scheduled to be heard by Hilo Circuit Judge
Greg Nakamura at 9 a.m. Feb. 23.

The lawsuit was filed by the victim's grandfather
against the girl's former caregiver, Hyacinth
Poouahi, who a year ago was sentenced to a 20-
year prison term for abusing the girl. The victim
was 9 when the abuse began in Poouahi's
Ainaloa home in late 2004.

Other defendants include the girl's biological
mother, Crystal McGrath, who left the girl in
Poouahi's care, and the state departments of
Education and Human Services.

The girl was in a coma for several weeks in a
Honolulu hospital after her Feb. 7, 2005, rescue
by fire department paramedics. Today, at age 15,
she is severely speech- and hearing-impaired,
blind in one eye, walks with a limp and has facial
disfigurement.

The girl also was tortured psychologically, being
forced to eat cockroaches, and breakfast cereal
mixed with chili peppers.

Among the allegations is that people at
Keonepoko Elementary School knew of the abuse
as early as December 2004 but failed to notify
either police or the Child Protective Service.
Honolulu attorney Arthur Park, who represents
the girl's grandfather, Bienvenido Cabanting, has
asked Nakamura for a pretrial ruling against the
DOE for breaching its duty of care.

Nakamura took Park's request under advisement.