Lawyer Misconduct

Location: Upstate NY

My wife and I were foster parents for a child until he was almost 4 years old when a random man came forward stating he was his father. After DNA testing, he was confirmed as the child’s father. He had never met the child but he immediately filed for custody.

We were in the process of adopting the child, as he had been in our custody almost his entire life. We supported the father throughout the transition, wanting to make it as easy as possible.

However…. After his first overnight visit, the child came back to us crying that he didn’t want to go back to that home cause “daddy [name] hits me”. We immediately reported this to CPS.

Turns out, the biological father lived in a house with his girlfriend and 5 other children, in which CPS has intervened previously. The child had been living in the attic, where there were no stairs. They just had a ladder when they needed to come down. The father had also served 10 months in jail for beating a 4 year old boy until he had kidney damage.

Despite all of this, the lawyer and CPS never told the judge about any of this and immediately gave the father full custody.

Within 6 weeks he was murdered.

The father beat him to death. It was absolutely horrific being in the hospital with him as he passed.

We are suing DSS over all of this, and the judge stated that CPS, the lawyer, and the CPS workers do not have immunity from being sued.

Here’s my question…. Should I complain to the state? Or just let things just play out in court?