Oklahoma Pays $300K to Settle DHS Lawsuit

The state of Oklahoma has paid $300,000 to a woman who spent more than a year in the Sequoyah County jail for refusing to tell Department of Human Services workers the location of her daughter – whom she said had been molested.

The Oklahoman reports that DHS and a retired judge who was named in the lawsuit did not admit any liability in agreeing to settle.

The mother alleged that the girl’s father and other relatives molested the girl. The mother was jailed for 14 months on contempt of court charges for refusing to disclose the girl’s whereabouts. She said she was protecting her child from further sexual abuse by not saying where she was living.

The mother and her daughter now live in Van Buren, Ark.