A 7-year-old boy was sexually abused by his foster father after two Broward County child welfare groups failed to conduct proper background checks on the man, according to allegations in a civil lawsuit filed this week.
Lawyers for the boy say that ChildNet, Inc. and Kids In Distress, Inc. failed to do adequate investigations of John Michael McGuigan before granting him a foster care license.
Officials could have easily discovered several troubling allegations about McGuigan's past that would have made him ineligible, the boy's lawyer, Howard Talenfeld, said Wednesday.