Ex-foster child’s claim may reach Legislature

WATERVILLE – A complaint by a Fairfield woman that she was sexually abused by her state caseworker and foster father in the 1960s could reach the Legislature next year.

Germaine Bell, who is now 54, says her former Maine Department of Human Services caseworker, who also became her foster father, made her pregnant twice when she was a teenager.

Bell had her first baby after being sent to California in 1965 to live with relatives. Bell said that two years later, she became pregnant again by the same man, who arranged for her to have an abortion. The man implicated in the case denies Bell’s claims.

Bell claims the state mishandled her case when she was a teenager and wants to sue the government. State Sen. Kenneth Gagnon, D-Waterville, said he would submit a bill authorizing her to sue the state if he is re-elected in November.

His Republican challenger, Barry Sturk of Belgrade, said submitting a bill would accomplish nothing because most such proposals end up dead.

“I’d be more for a serious revamping of the DHS,” said Sturk.

Legal claims against the state face intense scrutiny in the Legislature. Bell said she is seeking civil action because the statute of limitations has run out for a criminal case.