Children Services faces $16 million lawsuit

YOUNGSTOWN — A Boardman lawyer has sued the Mahoning County Children Services Board for $16 million on behalf of an Austintown couple, who say the board improperly and negligently removed four children from the couple’s custody.

The civil lawsuit was filed in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court by Atty. David L. Engler on behalf of Ryan and Trisha McCabe of Signature Drive.

The suit seeks $10 million in punitive damages and $1 million each in compensatory damages for emotional duress, negligence, malicious prosecution, violation of constitutional rights, slander and loss of consortium.

“The damage was so tremendous and the action so outrageous that it was difficult to actually come up with a number that would fairly compensate the plaintiffs for the nightmare that they suffered,” Engler said.

Speaking of CSB and its staff, Engler said he wanted to arrive at “some number that would cause them to behave differently in the future.”

Denise E. Stewart, CSB executive director, said only that the agency hasn’t been formally served with the lawsuit, but it will refer the matter to the county prosecutor’s office, which defends county agencies in civil lawsuits. Stewart declined to discuss specifics of the case.

The McCabes could not be reached for comment.

CSB alleged on Aug. 21, 2006, that the couple’s children, then a 2-year-old girl and 3-month-old identical triplet boys, were abused and neglected, the suit says.

Read more in Wednesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com