$31.5 million settlement reached in child’s starvation death suit against city and county of San Diego, others

A lawsuit alleging systemic failures that led to the starvation death of an -year-old girl at the hands of her adoptive family has resolved with settlements tallying million dollars including million each from the city and county of San Diego The neglect lawsuit was brought on behalf of Arabella McCormack s two younger sisters who were and years old when Arabella died in August The three children had been living with a Spring Valley couple who d taken them in as foster children a scarce years earlier eventually adopting them RELATED Grand jury indicts adoptive mother grandparents in death of -year-old California girl Related Articles Mom of missing autistic son distributed but boy s disappearance still a mystery Feds charge man with distributing child sex abuse material from girlfriend s East Bay home Santa Cruz County woman pleads guilty to abandoning newborn in Mother of missing New York boy admitted she was a single mother before changing story Mystery deepens around boy missing months whose mom denies having a child It accused several agencies organizations and staffers of failing to document realizable abuse of Arabella who died in a state of malnutrition weighing less at her death than she had when she was years old and had cuts bruises and bone fractures The suit says Arabella s younger sisters were detected suffering from a syndrome that presents after prolonged starvation and had to be gradually renourished A surviving sister recounted a grand jury last year that they had been given limited food and water forced to exercise ordered to stay in their beds and not allowed to go to the bathroom when they needed to Punishments included being struck with objects The suit filed San Diego Superior Court alleged that social workers closed complaints regarding Arabella as unfounded and that school teachers failed to analysis the emaciated child to law enforcement It also alleges a San Diego police officer and family friend gave the family a wooden paddle they could use to strike the child and supplied two more when the first one broke The officer is also accused of not reporting suspected abuse The surviving sisters sued San Diego County the San Diego Police Department Pacific Coast Academy where Arabella was enrolled for homeschooling and Rock Church where Arabella s adoptive mother was an ordained elder and ministry leadership coordinator The sisters also sued two teachers two social workers a church member and the police officer accused of supplying paddles Court documents indicate Pacific Coast Academy agreed to settle for million and Rock Church agreed to settle for million San Diego Superior Court Judge Richard Whitney approved both settlements last week The city of San Diego s settlement does not cover the police officer alleged to have known of the abuse The officer settled separately for plus hours of society institution at a child advocacy-focused organization Leticia McCormack left and her parents Stanley and Adella Tom appear in El Cajon Superior Court Alejandro Tamayo U-T file The girls adoptive mother Leticia McCormack and her parents Adella and Stanley Tom have pleaded not guilty to murder conspiracy child abuse and torture The girls adoptive father Brian McCormack was a Boundary Patrol agent who killed himself in front of sheriff s deputies the day Arabella died Prosecutors say he too would have been charged Arabella who went by Bella and whose name is also spelled Aarabella in court documents was unresponsive when deputies and paramedics arrived at her family s home about a m on Aug She died at a hospital about hours later She and her two younger sisters first moved into the McCormack home in while in foster care and the couple later adopted them The two older girls shared a room according to grand jury testimony late last year The surviving sister narrated the grand jury she and Bella were not allowed to play or even talk to each other in the room Instead they were forced to lie still on their beds hands at their sides with cameras trained on them and alarms on their beds She disclosed they were punished for every movement including for moving in their sleep The girl disclosed neither she nor Bella were perpetually allowed to go to the bathroom when they needed to and when they cried about it they were reported to shut up When they soiled themselves in bed she noted they were forced to lie in it It also brought punishments according to her testimony The child testified they were struck at times with a belt paddles and paint stirring sticks and sometimes smacked with a ruler to the bottom of their feet She explained they were forced to exercise by running up and down a flight of stairs times Food and water she announced were restricted and they were not allowed to drink until after they ate