Acadia Healthcare: $485M Jury Verdict in Albuquerque Foster Child Sex Assault

July 12, 2023

A Rio Arriba County jury has awarded $485 million in damages in a civil case brought on behalf of an 8-year-old girl repeatedly raped in a New Mexico treatment foster care program. The program allegedly placed the girl in the home of a foster parent knowing he had prior accusations of sexual assault.

Meanwhile, the former foster parent at the center of the child sexual abuse scandal faces an Aug. 3 sentencing hearing that could send him to prison for up to 42 years.

Clarence Garcia, 66, pleaded guilty in January to seven counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor and sentenced to up to 20 years probation. He was accused of sexually abusing six children under his care over a six-year-period.

In April, Garcia allegedly committed violations of his probation that could result in a judge sentencing him to prison.

The civil case verdict came after nearly two weeks of testimony in a Tierra Amarilla courtroom that focused in part on allegations of corporate negligence against defendants which included a top U.S. healthcare corporation, Acadia Healthcare Inc., which was the parent company of a now-defunct subsidiary called Youth and Family Centered Services of New Mexico, Inc.

Acadia Healthcare operated a now-defunct licensed residential treatment facility, called Desert Hills, for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities as well as behavioral issues. The civil lawsuit stated that Desert Hills ran Familyworks, a New Mexico nonprofit company that was licensed by the state Children, Youth and Families Department to license, train and support treatment foster parents and children ages 4 through 18 who were placed in foster care homes. CYFD wasn’t named as a defendant.

The civil lawsuit, one of more than a half dozen cases arising from sexual assaults of children in the foster program, alleged that Familyworks placed the 8-year-old girl into a treatment foster care home with Garcia and his wife.

Familyworks was alleged to have had prior knowledge and received reports that Garcia was sexually abusing and sexually assaulting foster children before the 8-year-old was placed in his care.

“Upon information and belief, Familyworks had unqualified employees, was understaffed, failed to follow or enforce policies and procedures, engaged in a pattern and practice of merely placing foster children to fill beds, and had incidents of physical and sexual assaults of foster children by foster families,” stated the lawsuit filed on behalf of the girl.

An Acadia spokesman told the Journal in an email late Monday the company was evaluating its legal options, “and intends to challenge the verdict as it relates to the company.”

“Our hearts go out to this young girl. What this abuser did was horrible,” the spokesman said.

The jury awarded $80 million in compensatory damages suffered by the girl, referred to only as G.S., and $250 million in punitive damages against Acadia Healthcare. Youth and Family Centered Services, doing business as Desert Hills is to pay $75 million in punitive damages, as is Familyworks, Inc., with $5 million in punitive damages awarded against Clarence Garcia for his conduct.

The Acadia spokesman said the victim “was not in the direct care of Desert Hills or any facility operated by Acadia, but was in a treatment foster care program managed by Familyworks,” a nonprofit organization for whom Desert Hills provided services.

In the criminal case, prosecutor Rebekah Reyes said Monday that the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office offered Clarence Garcia a plea agreement in January to spare the victims in the case from testifying at multiple trials.

“Given the significant trauma histories and the mental health of the victims, it was in the best interest of these kids to offer this plea,” Reyes said. “All of the victims were on board with the plea because it prevented them from having to testify at trial. Some of the kids would have had to testify at multiple trials.”

Under New Mexico law, children are required to testify against their alleged abusers in sexual abuse cases, Reyes said.

“It would have been extremely traumatic for these victims in particular to have to go through the process of testifying,” she said.

About four months after Garcia entered a plea in his criminal case, state probation and parole officials alleged that he had violated conditions of his probation. Judge Britt Baca-Miller issued a warrant for Garcia, who was arrested and booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center on April 13.

District Court Judge Pro Tem Charles Brown heard Garcia’s probation violation hearing on June 29. Garcia was released from custody pending his Aug. 3 sentencing hearing.

Garcia’s attorney, Mark Swanson, responded to a request for comment on Monday, saying: “We’ll be alongside Mr. Garcia as this case proceeds in court.”

Those probation violations include allegations that Garcia had a prohibited Facebook account that contained pictures of his nieces and nephews, ages 7 to 15, according to court records. Probation officers also searched Garcia’s property and found bags of children’s stuffed animals, a yoga book “with young children in suggestive poses” and accessories for firearms including a handgun optic, a gun cleaning kit and two live rifle rounds, according to court records.

Officers also found “countless knives,” an axe, a machete, firearm schematics, and two martial arts bow staffs. The alleged probation violations do not list any firearms found among his possessions. 

Garcia also allegedly admitted that he had downloaded casino-type video games on this cell phone with message and chat capabilities that probation officials say violate the conditions of his probation.

Source: Colleen Heild and Olivier Uytterbrouck, “Foster child sexual assault results in $485 million jury award,” Albuquerque Journal, Jul 11, 2023, URL: https://www.abqjournal.com/news/foster-child-sexual-assault-results-in-485-million-jury-award/article_bfdf6e86-1f70-11ee-b4e3-c7c608def4fe.html