Couple sue adoption agency after teenage boy they took in from China rapes their two younger children - and they discover he had a history of sexually abusing kids

  • The couple have filed suit against Chinese Children Adoption International
  • The suit was filed against the Centennial, Colorado-based agency Tuesday 
  • The boy was found to have 'a long history of sexually abusing multiple children' 
  • Couple say they were misled into thinking the boy was 12 when he was really 15
  • Teen had been raped and prostituted at the orphanage he was adopted from
  • The adoption agency denied knowing anything about the boy's crimes
  • One of the other two kids, also adopted from the agency, had had a brain tumor 

A couple discovered the teenage boy they adopted from China had raped their two younger children, and had an undisclosed history of sexual abuse, according to a lawsuit filed against their adoption agency.

The couple say that Chinese Children Adoption International did not inform them that the teenager had a 'long history of sexually abusing multiple children' while in China, before they adopted him in 2015.

According to the lawsuit, the family discovered that the boy had been setting his alarm clock for 3am so he could abuse the two young children - who were also adopted.

The teenager has been charged with two counts of sexual battery and sent to the Vigo County Juvenile Detention Center in Terre Haute, Indiana, where the family was living at the time he is alleged to have raped his siblings. 

The boy had himself previously been the victim of abuse, and 'had been raped and prostituted' at the Chinese orphanage, the suit claims. The faimily claim they were told by the agency that the boy was 11, when in fact he was 15 or 16.

A couple has sued Chinese Children Adoption International of Centennial, Colorado, after they say they were not told their adopted teenager had a history of undisclosed sexual abuse

A couple has sued Chinese Children Adoption International of Centennial, Colorado, after they say they were not told their adopted teenager had a history of undisclosed sexual abuse

Attorneys for the parents argue that the adoption agency - based in Centennial, Colorado - was negligent for not informing the couple about the teen's past. 

'They should have known that the kids at the orphanage were being prostituted,' Jonathan Little, one of the lawyers representing the couple told DailyMail.com. 

The couple's suit also claims they were misled into thinking that one of their two younger kids, who also was adopted from China and from the same agency, had a hydrocephalus and cerebral palsy.

The child in fact had undisclosed brain tumor and had undergone massive brain surgery at Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital in Hong Kong, they say in the suit.

Joshua Zhong, president and co-founder of the adoption agency, did not immediately respond to an email from DailyMail.com.

The family say they suffered financial hardships because of the 'extreme emotional' toll their children suffered, and were forced to end a family medical business. They are seeking compensation for damages.

The suit also calls for an injunction that requires the adoption agency to set up protocols to prevent harm to families and their children.

Joshua Zhong, president and co-founder of the adoption agency, did not immediately respond to an email from DailyMail.com

Joshua Zhong, president and co-founder of the adoption agency, did not immediately respond to an email from DailyMail.com

The couple began their adoptions after the wife, a mother of six-grown children, wanted to continue being a mom. All of their adoptions were from China.

The first child, adopted in 2014 through a different agency, was a 'positive experience' for the couple, the lawsuit says.

The couple a year later 'wanted another child from China due to their knowledge of the adoption process,' in that country, and because the child would share the same racial ethnicity as their first adoption. 

They then turned to Chinese Children Adoption International for the second adoption, taking on the the teenage son. 

Within a month of the boy's arrival, the first adopted child began showing signs of abuse, says their lawsuit. The signs included a bloody stool and loss of appetite. 

The child also 'was always upset, crying, and banging his head.' At the age of 5, the child went completely bald, according to the lawsuit.

The family then moved to adopt a third child, this time seeking one who was 'special needs,' because they said they had the time and medical resources for his care. 

Shortly after that child was adopted in early 2016, and again through Chinese Children Adoption International, the boy started waking up 'screaming and crying,' and would crawl into bed with his adoptive parents, the lawsuit says. 

He also complained of buttocks pain, which the parents suspected had come form cigarette burns inflicted on the child while he was still in a Chinese orphanage. The child also developed viral warts around his anus, the suit explains.

That's when the parents also learned that their teenage son's alarm was going off every day at 3am, the time he would go to rape his younger siblings. 

Upon being confronted, he allegedly admitted to his adopted parents that he was 'raping his brothers.'  He later told a therapist he 'still had strong sexual urges that he could not control and would abuse boys again if given the chance,' says the lawsuit.   

A subsequent psycho-sexual assessment found the teenager had a long history of sexually abusing multiple children and that the sex abuse 'was differentiated from normative sexual play or curiosity and exploration (i.e. 'playing doctor').'

The teen admitted that at the age of 5 or 6, he was removed from foster care in China for sexually acting out with another child. He also admitted to being sexually active with children and adults while in China since the age of 11. 

The teen is now in the custody of the state of Indiana for the 'brutal rapes' of the two younger children, their lawsuit states. 

The couple and the other two adopted boys now live in Washington State.

They made the move there, according to their suit, after selling their house at a loss to get away from the 'bad memories.' 

 
 


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Couple sue adoption agency after teenage boy they took in from China rapes their two younger kids

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