Attorneys for the young Sacramento woman who was tortured as a teen in her adoptive home filed a lawsuit Thursday against seven current and former government workers who had contact with the troubled household.
Lilly Manning, who will turn 20 next week, and two of her siblings are seeking damages from six administrators and workers at Hiram Johnson High School, as well as a former social worker for Sacramento County's Child Protective Services.
Last month, the legal team, headed by Joe C. George, a lawyer, psychologist and child abuse expert, filed a claim for damages against CPS and the Sacramento City Unified School District.
The new civil filing seeks to hold the public employees personally liable for "negligent conduct" in their dealings with the children and their violent caregivers.
The new complaint for damages alleges that a CPS social worker was "a personal friend" of the abusive adoptive mother, Lillian Manning-Horvath, and dismissed or minimized warnings about the home. The complaint also alleges that the six employees associated with the school district saw Lilly's injuries or expressed suspicions about the family but failed to alert CPS, as required by law.
Lillian Manning-Horvath and her husband, Joseph Horvath, were sentenced to multiple life terms.
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