Foster kids were ‘starved, forced into slave labor and molested at house of horrors’ where teen killed adoptive mom
FOSTER kids were allegedly starved, forced into slave labor and molested at a "house of horrors" where a teen killed his adoptive mom.
Three former foster children, among the 11 adoptees taken in by Jolyn and Kurt Kipapa, claimed the abuse they endured was overlooked by the state, according to a lawsuit filed last week.
reported that the unidentified plaintiffs - who resided in the Kipapa home from 1996 to 2014 - also claimed one of their siblings sexually molested them for years.
The plaintiffs' attorney, Randall Rosenberg, told the news outlet: “This was for all intents and purposes a house of horrors for these children.
“They used the foster children as slave labor. They had a lock on the refrigerator. They starved these kids.”
Rosenberg said the former foster children were forced to work for the Kipapa family business - cleaning Sherwood Beach.
He also said the Kipapa's were "aware of the sexual abuse" being done to his clients by another adoptee - and "allowed it to continue."
One of the children reportedly notified a social worker of the alleged abuse.
The social worker allegedly said the child was “lying," according to the suit.
The suit also accuses a former state worker of “funneling additional foster children” to the Kipapa's to enlarge their "monthly stipend.”
A foster son, not involved in the suit, is serving a ten-year sentence for the 2014 manslaughter of his foster parent, 52-year-old Jolyn Kipapa, in their Waimanalo, Hawaii, home.
Kaanoi Kipapa, who was 16 at the time of the killing, said at a last year: “I was so broken, so damaged that I didn’t know what else to do. I will forever be sorry for what I had done."
“Looking back on today, she didn’t deserve to die, let alone the way I killed her.”
Last year, Kaanoi's step-brother, Taylor-James Mendiola, opened up to about his horrific time in the home.
He said: “All the years that I was in that home was really hard. The abuse really scared us.
"The bullying of being gay was just unbelievable. I still have nightmares of them in my dreams.
"I get up at night hyperventilating, screaming.”
He recalled thinking the round-the-clock physical and mental abuse was normal.
Mendiola recounted being taken out of school and forced to pick up trash all day - instead of being homeschooled.
Despite his claims, it is unknown if Mendiola is one of the three former foster children suing the state and Kurt Kipapa.
When Hawaii News Now reached out to The Department of Human Services and Kurt, who said the allegations "shocked" him.
Both the DHS and Kurt refused to comment.
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The lawsuit is seeking general and special damages to be proven at trial, according to Hawaii News Now.
An investigation is now underway, Rosenberg said.
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