BIRMINGHAM – Two persons who lived in Lauderdale County are involved in a case of massive child abuse.
Daniel Spurgeon
Jenise Spurgeon
One, Daniel Spurgeon, has already been sentenced to 25 years in prison. His wife and alleged partner in the horrific crimes, Jenise is scheduled to face a jury in April. This week, the Alabama Department of Human Resources, DHR, DHR Commissioner, Nancy Buckner and several, as-yet unnamed caseworkers are now being sued for their alleged botched handling of the welfare of the victims. The lawsuit is seeking $25-million.
Here is the statement from the Lawyers who brought the case to the Lauderdale District Court:
“VICTIMS OF CHILD ABUSE SUE DHR FOR TWENTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLARS Four victims of horrific child abuse and neglect filed lawsuits this morning in Lauderdale County, Alabama Circuit Court seeking $25,000,000.00 from their perpetrators and state officials. Former Florence, Alabama residents Jenise and Daniel Spurgeon, the State of Alabama Department of Human Resources (“DHR”), DHR Commissioner Nancy Buckner and yet to be identified DHR caseworkers are named as Defendants.
The cases were filed using the victims’ initials because the claims involve sexual assault, sexual abuse and molestation. Some of the plaintiffs are minors. Birmingham attorneys Tommy James of Tommy James Law and Jeremy Knowles of Morris Haynes represent the victims. Mr. James represents crime victims and others across the state who have been injured or killed as a result of wrongdoing by state officials, state agencies and others. He is on the state Board of Directors of VOCAL, Victims Against Crime and Leniency, an advocacy group that focuses on reducing crime and improving the rights of crime victims.
The lawsuits stem from the long term child abuse, torture and neglect in the foster/adoptive homes of Jenise and Daniel Spurgeon. The Spurgeons were approved and licensed to be foster and adoptive parents by DHR. The victims were foster children and children the Spurgeons adopted who had previously been fostered by them. After the abuse and neglect came to light, the Spurgeons were charged with numerous counts of child abuse, sexual abuse, rape, human trafficking, sexual torture and other crimes against children. Daniel Spurgeon has pled guilty to the crimes he committed against these victims and was sentenced to 25 years in prison without parole.
Jenise Spurgeon is currently awaiting trial in Lauderdale County for the crimes against the victims that are addressed in the lawsuits. The lawsuits allege the victims were sexually abused, physically abused, emotionally abused and verbally abused, and that they were raped, sexually and physically tortured, chronically starved, punished excessively and suffered numerous other incidents of child abuse and neglect at the hands of the Spurgeons. The lawsuits claim DHR and its employees received complaints of abuse and neglect yet failed to take appropriate action and instead left the victims with the perpetrators who had inflicted the abuse upon them. According to the lawsuits, DHR failed to act upon numerous red flags during the many years the Spurgeons fostered and adopted these and other children.
“My clients lived a daily nightmare because DHR workers failed to do their jobs and it is appalling that DHR allowed this to happen,” said victim attorney Tommy James. “It is incomprehensible that this abuse went on for years right under the nose of DHR workers. They ignored clear and repeated signs of child abuse and neglect that resulted in emotional and physical consequences that my clients will live with forever.” The lawsuits claim that DHR employees repeatedly failed to follow mandatory policies and procedures with no consequences whatsoever. The lawsuits state that these violations of policy “have directly led to a crisis in Alabama’s child welfare system that has led to countless children being subjected to abuse and neglect” and “the incidents of abuse and neglect cited in this Complaint are just the tip of an extraordinarily large iceberg. What these children suffered through is shocking, incomprehensible and should have never been allowed to happened. DHR and the DHR Defendants completely and utterly failed these children by not doing their jobs and they must be held accountable.”
“The victims in these cases suffered the most shocking abuse imaginable as a direct result of a catastrophic failure of Alabama’s Child Welfare system. The system is broken in Alabama and it has failed these and countless other victims. There is utter chaos because caseworkers are not following DHR policies and procedures. This chaos allowed these children to slip through the cracks,” James said. James said his clients want change within DHR so that other vulnerable children will be protected in the future from monsters like the Spurgeons. “My clients and I are hopeful that the heinous nature of the abuse and neglect in these cases will attract the attention of Governor Ivey and Attorney General Marshall so they can seek the long overdue changes that must be made to protect the children in our state. We are confident that they will do the right thing,” James said. “These victims hope and pray that these cases and the attention they receive will lead to change within the foster care and adoption systems in Alabama so that this never happens again. My clients are extremely brave and they deserve justice. It is past time for DHR and its employees to be held accountable for consistently failing our children.” For further information and/or to obtain copies of the lawsuits, please call Tommy James at 334-224-2496 or email to tommy@tommyjameslaw.com.”
