Woman Raped in Florida Group Home Gets Payout
A severely mentally retarded woman who was raped while in state care will receive $7.6 million under a bill signed by Gov. Jeb Bush on Wednesday, more than 10 years after the assault.
Kimberly Godwin was raped and impregnated in 1991 while living in a group home operated by what is now the Department of Children & Families. Her family later learned she had been abused and neglected in the home for at least three years. A doctor performed an abortion after determining she was not healthy enough to safely deliver the baby.
“We made a mistake and this child deserves better,” Bush said. “This money will go to the care of this precious person.”
Associated Press doesn’t usually identify sexual assault victims, but the family and their attorneys have chosen to make the case public.
Kimberly, 31, now lives with her father, Jimmy Godwin, in Telogia, about 35 miles west of Tallahassee.
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