Accusing the county of betraying their trust, a San Rafael couple has filed suit, claiming adoption fraud in which they said the county intentionally misled them into adopting a disturbed child who may require around-the-clock care.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of Janet and Simon Boddington alleges a county worker withheld an investigator’s report that raised red flags and did not disclose why another family had abandoned guardianship of the child.

The suit accuses the county of coming up with a “match” for the couple just as the two were considering abandoning adoption plans after turning down scores of prospects they feared would not be a good fit. The Boddingtons, who had already raised five children, said they had an agreement with the county that noted they would not accept a child with severe psychological problems.

The child, adopted six year ago, is now 14 and so unmanageable he cannot be left unsupervised and lives at a residential facility during the week, coming home on weekends.

County lawyers declined comment on the lawsuit, noting strict statutes compel absolute confidentiality in the case involving adoption, child welfare and medical records.

Kimberly Contreras, a county adoption worker named in the lawsuit, could not be reached for comment.

Janet Boddington, who works as a secretary at Marin Center for the county Department of Cultural Services, declined comment, saying, “We have a lawyer who can answer your questions.”

Jonathan Gertler, the San Rafael attorney representing the couple, noted the lawsuit seeks no specific cash settlement, but seemed to agree that county payment of current and future medical and care bills shouldered by the Boddingtons would “go a long way” in settling the case. In addition, “I think they should get some pain and suffering” cash, he added.

A press release was widely distributed explaining the case in detail from the Boddington perspective.

The lawsuit said that after the Boddingtons told Contreras they would bail out of adoption if a suitable child could not be found, she came up with a prospect but did not provide all the information about him despite troubling behavior outlined in an investigator’s report. The report was discovered by Janet Boddington in 2014 after the child was diagnosed with psychiatric disorders. The report indicated the child was dishonest and violent, had troubled relationships and could not understand right from wrong.

Previous guardians had bailed out of caring for the child because of behavioral problems, something the Boddingtons were not told, the suit said. Educational reports about the child’s “bizarre” behavior were not handed over.

“The county and Contreras made affirmative written and oral misrepresentations to the Boddingtons, and concealed from them material facts and documents, all relating to (his) social, behavioral and psychological history, and his suitability for adoption by the Boddingtons,” according to the suit. “The county and Contreras acted in a willful, deliberate, fraudulent and unlawful manner, with the specific intention and objective of leading the Boddingtons to rely upon their misrepresentations and concealments.”

“I’ll never forget that moment,” Janet Boddington said in a press release. “Simon and I were sitting in the car and I started reading this court document, and I kept thinking ‘This is wrong, this can’t be right, I’ve never seen this, what is this?’… We’re still in a state of shock, but it’s clear to us now that (he) was placed with us by fraud. We love (him) dearly, but he’s so sick that on many levels the county has ruined our lives. We don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”

California law requires the county to provide all known information about a child’s history and family life prior to adoption.

“This case is a shocking betrayal of trust by the county,” attorney Gertler said. “The Boddingtons … wanted to help out an unfortunate child in challenging circumstances,” he said. “What they could not know is that their own government would engage in fraudulent behavior to hide the critical information necessary to make an informed decision about what risk they were running.” —— (c)2016 The Marin Independent Journal (Novato, Calif.) Visit The Marin Independent Journal (Novato, Calif.) at www.marinij.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. AMX-2016-01-13T00:01:00-05:00