AUGUSTA, Maine - The Maine House has given initial approval to a measure that would allow a group of five parents to sue the state of Maine for abuse suffered by their young children at the now-closed Sunshine Child Care and Preschool in Lyman.
While the parents settled their suit with the day care's former owners, the plaintiffs need approval from the Legislature to waive the state's defense of sovereign immunity.
Democratic Rep. Louie Luchini from Ellsworth sits on the Legislature's Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee, which supported the measure.
He says abuse at the center went on for years, and that in July of 2012 a state investigation indicated that several parents and a number of staff reported mistreatment of children. "Including verbal abuse, name calling, forced feeding of children, physical abuse, children being hit, slammed on the floor, hair grabbed - horrible, horrible instances."
The House Democratic Office says that the suit questions the state's slow reaction or inaction after reports of abuse and neglect surfaced.