Suit by Mother, 15, Calls Foster Care Negligent

Claiming that her foster mother and a social worker attempted to force her to have an abortion, a 15-year-old girl filed suit Thursday seeking more than $25 million in damages from Los Angeles County.

The girl, who gave birth to a daughter last August, says in her Los Angeles Superior Court suit that the county was negligent by placing her in a home where the foster mother was frequently absent at night, even though teen-age boys were often present.

Named as defendants along with the county are the Department of Public Social Services; the girl’s social worker, Alexis Dotson; the foster mother, Patricia Newton, and five others, including the baby’s alleged father and his mother.

David E. Frank. the girl’s attorney, said she was placed in Newton’s foster home two years ago after she had accused her mother’s boyfriend of sexually molesting her.

At the time, the suit says, the girl was diagnosed as suffering from a personality disorder that led to her preoccupation with her own body and her own sexuality.

Even though county child care authorities knew of the girl’s condition, they nonetheless placed her with Newton, an unmarried mother of three children--boys 17 and 7 years old and a girl, 13--who had never been a foster mother before, the suit says.

The complaint also states that there were signs and stickers in Newton’s bedroom that read: “I’m a happy hooker.”

When Newton went out during the evenings, no responsible adult was left in charge, the suit added.

After the girl became pregnant, allegedly by a 16-year-old boy, Newton stopped feeding her and attempted to force her to have an abortion, according to the suit.

When the girl told Dotson of her pregnancy, the social worker also attempted to force her to have an abortion, the suit alleges.

The complaint claims that Dotson asked the girl: “‘What are you going to do, go on the county like everybody else? Be a hooker like everybody else?’ ”

When the girl told Dotson that she wanted to have her baby, the suit says, the social worker said she would send her to a child care center where she could learn parenting skills. But rather than sending her to a child care center, Dotson sent her to an abortion clinic, according to the suit.

The action seeks $25 million in punitive damages, a minimum of $205,000 for the girl’s psychological counseling and compensatory damages for the support of the infant while a minor.

None of the defendants could be reached for comment Thursday.