County to pay $3.5 million for botched MCSO probe

Maricopa County will pay a $3.5 million settlement to the family of a girl whose abuser was allowed to walk free for nearly five years while the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office ignored physical evidence from the assault.

The case was one of more than 400 sexual-abuse and -assault cases that the Sheriff's Office admitted mishandling from roughly 2005 to 2007.

In this instance, Patrick J. Morrison, 51, eventually pleaded guilty in 2012 to three counts of child molestation against his niece, Sabrina, who is developmentally disabled. The girl first reported the molestation five years earlier in 2007, but deputies closed her case in 2008 even though physical evidence supported her story.

The Arizona Republic typically does not identify sexual-assault victims. However, the family stepped forward and agreed to disclose Sabrina's identity in the hope that their case would call attention to the investigations mishandled by the Sheriff's Office.

The family had previously filed a $30 million claim against the county.

"We got the result that was justified," Charles Surrano, an attorney for the Morrison family. "I'm glad the county came to their senses."

Surrano said that as time progressed, he knew the Sheriff's Office smartest move was to admit their fault.

"Today's settlement reflects their liability," Surrano said.

Sabrina's mother, Vikki Morrison, said her daughter still suffers from the trauma of the case and no amount of money is going to change that.

"Money can't replace the fact that my daughter and family are traumatized forever," Vikki Morrison said. "Family means more to my daughter than any amount of money."

Patrick Morrison was sentenced to 24 years in prison for one count of child molestation and lifetime supervised probation following his release on two other counts of attempted child molestation, court records said.

Almost 21/2 years after the sentence, Sabrina's mother said that the family still feels his punishment was not severe enough.

"I wanted him to get life," she said.

Sabrina Morrison reported to her middle-school counselor in March 2007 that her uncle had sexually assaulted her one day earlier on the Mesa property he shared with Sabrina's family. Sheriff's deputies followed up immediately with investigators, accompanying the family to a center in Mesa for an examination, according to the initial claim filed in 2012.

During the investigation, a nurse noted that there were no obvious signs of an assault, but investigators still collected samples that were later provided to the Arizona Department of Public Safety laboratory for testing, according to the claim.

Two months later, the lab reported that semen was detected on some of the items, and DPS advised the Sheriff's Office that investigators would need to collect a sample from a suspect for comparison.

Instead of collecting a sample from Patrick Morrison, sheriff's investigators closed the case as "inactive" in early 2008.

It wasn't until June 2011 that the case was reopened and a DNA sample was obtained from Patrick Morrison, according to the claim.

By then, he had repeatedly abused and molested his niece, according to the claim. He was arrested in February 2012.

But for years, relying only on the nurse's report that there was no evidence of an assault, Sabrina's family allowed Patrick to remain in and around the home, and her claims were disregarded.

"Hence, when Patrick Morrison denied the incident as ever happening, the lack of further action by the Sheriff's Office cemented in the Morrisons' minds the initial finding that there was no evidence of rape and correspondingly eroded any credibility they might have accorded their daughter's story — a young girl beset by significant mental limitations," the claim notes. "The level of psychic pain this child was forced to endure is both unconscionable and unforgivable."

The Morrison case came to light as the Sheriff's Office was reopening hundreds of sex-crime probes that were not adequately investigated.

Vikki Morrison claims county officials have continuously blamed the family for their daughter's repeated abuse following the initial report in 2007 because they allowed Patrick Morrison around the home.

"My daughter knows it's not our fault," she said. "She still asks, 'Why do they say it's your fault?' "

Vikki Morrison added that officials have never found anything against the family during the time Sabrina was repeatedly abused.

She said despite everything her daughter has been through, Sabrina wants to prevent this from happening to anybody else.

"Sabrina wants to get the word out," her mother said. "She wants to help others."

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office released a statement Wednesday agreeing with the county's settlement.

"Today, this matter concludes and our hope is that the money awarded will go to a trust fund providing this victim with the help she requires now and in the future," said Arpaio spokeswoman Lisa Allen.

The settlement is the latest in a long string of million-dollar-plus payouts as a result of Sheriff's Office actions. Two inmate death cases, one in 1996 and one in 2001, resulted in payouts of $8 million and $6 million, respectively. More recently, the county paid $1.2 million to the family of a man who was struck and killed by a sleep-deprived deputy in 2009, and the state department of Correctional Health Services paid out $3.25 million in 2012 to the family of a diabetic inmate who died in custody.

In addition, the county has paid out millions more in settlements involving Sheriff Joe Arpaio's immigration enforcement actions, and at least $44 million to settle claims by county officials who were targeted in a political vendetta by Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas.

In 2013, Maricopa County agreed to pay more in insurance premiums for the upcoming year because it was becoming increasingly difficult to find insurance carriers based on the county's exposure to legal claims.

The county at that time paid $2.3 million to renew its insurance policies, which pays for up to $55 million in insurance coverage for the county through six companies.

Part of the increase was because the county had to pay for coverage from two companies for its excess-liability plan. The liability plan covers claims that exceed the $5 million limit that can be paid out by the county's self-insured risk trust fund.

At the time, county administrators also decided to use two new insurance companies to cover sheriff-related claims and non-sheriff related claims.