(South Bend, IN) - The Indiana Department of Child Services, along with three of its La Porte County employees, are facing more legal pressure for their alleged mishandling of Judah Morgan’s well-being.

 

Last week attorneys for Jenna Hullett, Judah’s personal representative, filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court. The suit alleges that caseworkers were negligent in allowing the four-year-old to be in the custody of his biological parents. After being returned to their Union Township home, Judah was neglected, abused, and killed in October of 2021.

 

Specifically, the suit names two La Porte County DCS caseworkers and the local director. According to court documents, all three are La Porte County residents, and one of them lived less than 1,500 feet from Judah’s home.

 

The claim paints a bleak picture of dysfunction in the Morgan household from the time of Judah’s birth. Attorneys allege that caseworkers ignored many parenting red flags and knew that Judah’s placement with his parents posed a risk for him and his older brother. The “reckless and deliberate indifference and intentional disregard of their duties,” the claim asserts, “were a proximate cause of [Judah Morgan’s] horrific neglect, abuse, torture, and death.”

 

The lawsuit requests a jury trial and unspecified punitive damages, along with attorney’s fees. An amended claim was also entered naming Alan Morgan and Mary Yoder as defendants. Morgan is serving 70 years for his actions; Yoder was scheduled to be sentenced on November 1st, but on Friday that date was pushed back to January 5th.

 

A Hendricks County judge has already found DCS in contempt of court for not releasing all documentation regarding Judah’s situation.