A Cascade County jury has awarded $11.2 million to a girl who was physically assaulted at 6 months old and left with life-long, debilitating injuries.
The jury found that the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services was negligent for not removing the girl from her living situation during a previous abuse investigation. It’s the second ruling of negligence for the state in this case — the first ruling was from a Cascade County judge in 2021.
“The jury’s verdict is an important measure of accountability for what happened to Sera,” Raph Graybill, one of the girl’s attorneys, said in a statement. “The verdict also recognizes the importance of properly investigating child abuse and protecting children when abuse has occurred.”
A spokesperson for the Montana DPHHS declined to comment. An attorney representing the state didn’t return a request for comment.
In February 2009, Alicia Hocter slammed the girl’s head against her crib multiple times and left the room. She turned up the radio so she wouldn’t hear the girl, who was 6 months old at the time. The assault left the girl, Seraphina Wilson, blind and with permanent injuries that require ongoing medical assistance.
Hocter was the girlfriend of the girl’s father, Jacob Arnott. Hocter was convicted of aggravated assault and criminal engagement in 2010 and is serving a 30-year sentence.
Through her legal guardian, Wilson sued the state health department in 2013 and alleged that the Child and Family Services Division should have intervened and removed the infant from the care of Arnott and Hocter before the 2009 assault.
In December 2008, division case workers investigated after Wilson was taken to a Great Falls hospital with bruises on her abdomen. In a diagnosis, a doctor characterized the injuries as “child abuse.” In a subsequent investigation, Child and Family Services case worker Cari Davids found that the girl did not receive “serious, inflicted physical harm,” and the department declined to remove her from Arnott, who had sole custody after a previous dispute with the girl’s mother. The Child and Family Services office also lost or destroyed photographic evidence of the bruising after the initial investigation, according to court documents.
In 2021, a Cascade County District Court judge ruled that the state agency’s negligence led to Wilson’s injuries. A jury then awarded $16.6 million to Wilson.
Attorneys for the state appealed to the Montana Supreme Court. Last year, a majority of justices vacated the district court’s finding of negligence and the jury’s award and sent the case back for another trial.
The second trial began in July and lasted six days. In court filings, attorneys representing the state argued that even if Child and Family Services recommended the removal of Wilson from her father’s custody, the Cascade County Attorney’s Office might not have supported the legal justification to carry out the removal.
During the 2008 investigation, Child and Family Services supervisor Gary Johnson sought advice from Sarah Corbally, a former deputy Cascade County attorney who was then working in the Montana Attorney General’s Office. Corbally specialized in child abuse cases and worked in an office next to Johnson’s.
Johnson showed Corbally photos and records of the bruising incident and asked if that supported the removal of the girl from her father’s care. According to court documents, Corbally believed more evidence was necessary for the child’s removal.
“This evidence was not sufficient to justify removing [Seraphina Wilson] and Ms. Corbally told Mr. Johnson so,” attorneys for the state wrote in a court document.
Attorneys for Wilson argued that Corbally’s review was brief and that Corbally had no actual authority to determine whether or not removal was justified.
Less than two months later, Hocter assaulted Wilson.
On July 14, a jury in Great Falls returned a verdict in the second trial. It found that the state was negligent and that its failure to act caused Wilson’s injuries. The jury also determined a new award amount of $11.2 million, which includes sums for “impaired course of life,” medical costs and attendant care.
Wilson is now 16 years old.
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