Washington to pay $4M settlement in foster abuse case

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — The state of Washington has agreed to a $4 million settlement for two former foster children who were abused and sexually assaulted. The record-breaking settlement comes out of a sex abuse lawsuit for the two sisters, who were four and two when they were sexually assaulted. The lawsuit says they were placed in a foster home without safety monitoring for years. They were sexually abused from 2006 to 2015. Foster father Jose Cortez eventually pleaded guilty to first-degree child molestation. The two sisters testified, saying their foster mother would hit, starve and force them to take cold showers while Cortez sexually molested and raped them.