Oakland to pay Wendrows $2M for false sex allegations

A former West Bloomfield family has agreed to settle a lawsuit against Oakland County and former Prosecutor David Gorcyca for $2 million, ending seven years of litigation that began after the parents were falsely accused of sexually abusing their severely autistic daughter.

A federal jury awarded Thal and Julian Wendrow $3 million in November, following several weeks of trial. But Oakland County had pledged to appeal the verdict. Both sides have been in settlement negotiations to avoid additional litigation, and reached a compromise late last week.

"It was time to move on," said attorney Deborah Gordon, who represented the Wendrows in their civil suit. "The Wendrows were one hundred percent vindicated by the trial and the previous settlements. It's tragic that the county insisted on taking this to trial, but it's time to move on."

Oakland County Corporation Counsel Keith Lerminiaux said, "We disagreed with the jury's verdict, but we respect what the jury did." Lerminiaux said he was confident that the county would have been successful in its appeals, but opted to end the litigation to save the expense. "An opportunity was presented to put this matter behind us, and we took it."

The county has spent $891,897 so far, defending the suit, according to records.

The $2 million settlement brings to a total of $5.75 million awarded to the family. West Bloomfield police, Walled Lake Consolidated Schools and the State of Michigan settled out of court.

It also spares former prosecutor Gorcyca from a million-dollar judgment. The jury, in its November verdict, awarded each of the four Wendrow family members $250,000 each, saying Gorcyca libeled them after he left office, implying to a national legal publication that the Wendrows were indeed guilty, even though the case had been dropped several months before.

The judgment against Gorcyca was unusual because it's extremely rare for prosecutors to be held personally liable for their actions.

The jury also awarded $2 million to the Wendrows' son, Ian Wendrow, concluding that Gorcyca's former chief deputy, Deborah Carley, violated his Constitutional rights during the investigation. Carley now heads the Children and Youth Services Division for the Michigan Attorney General's office.

The Wendrows' ordeal began in late 2007 when their then-14 year old daughter Aislinn, reportedly typed on a key board — with the help of a teacher's aide in Walled Lake District Schools — that her father had raped her over the weekend while her mother looked the other way.

The typing, a controversial method known as "facilitated communication," had been widely debunked in the last two decades. Research always found it was the aide guiding the disabled person's hand. Aislinn — autistic, mute and developmentally disabled — has the cognitive abilities of a toddler.

Nevertheless, Gorcyca proceed with the prosecution, jailing both parents and placing the Aislinn, and her younger brother Ian, then 13, in foster care.

Julian Wendrow spent 80 days in jail before the case was dropped. Thal Wendrow was jailed, then electronically tethered to their home.

Gorcyca dropped the case months later when it was repeatedly shown that Aislinn could not type correct answers if the questions were asked outside the hearing of the teacher's aide.

The Wendrows and their story garnered national attention, including a 6-part series in the Free Press in 2011, and an hour-long segment on ABC's 20/20. The family has since moved out of West Bloomfield. Ian Wendrow is a college student, and Aislinn Wendrow attends classes for autistic people.