State Files Lawsuit to Avoid Paying Settlement in Molestation Case

By Lindy Thackston First Coast News

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- The state of Florida has filed a lawsuit to avoid paying a settlement of more than $600,000 to a 12-year old girl.

The girl was awarded that money more than a year ago after winning a civil lawsuit.

It grew out of case involving a Child Protective Investigator who had been convicted of molesting a boy and accused of molesting the girl when she was five years old.

Now the state is asking the courts to let the agency out of paying the settlement.

The victim's attorney told First Coast News he is asking the state to the drop lawsuit.

"For the state to turn around then and say, so sorry, we know you got a verdict and we know you got judgments on the verdict totally three-quarters of a million dollars, we're not gonna pay them but instead we're going to spend untold amounts of money to sue you," attorney Brian Cabrey said.

The DCF employee accused of molesting the girl, Louis Temple-Man, is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence for molesting the boy.

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