Jury awards $3.75M for toddler's failed abuse investigation

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A jury in South Carolina has awarded $3.75 million to the family of a child after finding social workers failed to investigate abuse claims. Attorney Heather Hite Stone said in a news release Monday that the toddler suffered two broken arms, a broken leg, bites to her back and had her hair pulled out by her mother's boyfriend. Stone says the child's grandmother complained to the Department of Social Services on the phone and in person before the toddler ended up in the hospital, but the agency did not investigate. Robert Steadman Jr. pleaded guilty to the 2013 abuse and is serving a 20-year prison sentence. DSS has not responded to last Thursday's verdict in Spartanburg County. Under South Carolina law, the toddler's family will likely only get about $400,000.