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Iowa paying $4.2M to third sibling of adopted teen who died of starvation in 2017
State Appeal Board OKs deal, bringing total to over $14M in abuse case
May. 6, 2025 12:01 pm, Updated: May. 6, 2025 3:11 pm
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In addition to $10 million Iowa paid to two siblings of a teenage girl who died of starvation in the care of her adoptive parents in 2017, the state has agreed to pay a third sibling $4.2 million after he was “severely physically abused, neglected, and tortured.”
The new settlement with the third sibling — identified only by his initials — was approved Tuesday by the State Board of Appeals. It comes in response to two tort claims accusing the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services of failing to properly investigate reports of abuse and neglect at the home in Perry where he lived with Marc and Misty Ray — who in 2019 were convicted in the starvation death of their adopted 16-year-old daughter, Sabrina Ray, who weighed 56 pounds when she died.
Misty Jo Bousman-Ray, who was 41 at the time and is 48 today, was sentenced to life in prison without parole. She’s being held in the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women.
Her husband, Marc Ray, who was 43 at the time and is 49 today, was sentenced to 80 years in prison. He’s being housed in the Newton Correctional Facility and isn’t up for a review on his sentence until 2052 — when he’ll be 76.
The new $4.2 million settlement accuses the state of actions resulting in “intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional harm resulting in bodily harm to a third person, civil conspiracy, concert of action, substantial assistance, breach of fiduciary duty, violation of mandatory reporting requirements” and other claims.
“(The child) allegedly witnessed and suffered abuse resulting in physical damage and emotional distress,” according to the settlement.
Iowa taxpayers will cover the full $4.2 million amount from the state’s general fund — with $1.8 million going to attorney fees; $50,000 going to a conservator for the “current benefit” of the child; and $2.3 million going into an annuity for the child.
Taxpayers also covered the $10 million that Iowa in 2023 agreed to pay two different siblings who sued for $50 million — settling for $5 million apiece after mediation.
The children had been in the foster care system before being adopted by the Rays.
Having sought $50 million, the third sibling by settling released the state and its Department of Health and Human Services from any more claims related to his experience with the Rays.
A spokesman for the State Appeal Board said this is the last person and agreement needed to finalize the Ray-related settlements.
In addition to the financial payments, the settlement requires “malnutrition training for HHS staff and contractors” and a commitment to “reinforce the expectation that investigators should seek access to relevant medical records and consult with a qualified medical professional … prior to making a determination.”
In a statement, an attorney for the child stressed those mandates in the agreement.
“This case is a small step in the right direction to help keep our children safe,” lawyer Scott M. Wadding said.
“On Monday, May 12 — one day after Mother’s Day — it will be eight years to the day that Sabrina died and her siblings were rescued from the Ray home,” Wadding said. “Accountability through legal action is just one part of a broader initiative to address the challenges in Iowa’s foster care and juvenile justice systems.”
His firm, he said, has committed to giving $300,000 to the Children’s Rights Clinic of The Joan & Lyle Middleton Center for Children’s Rights at Drake Law School in honor of Sabrina Ray.
The center, among its efforts, gives law students “hands-on experience representing children in juvenile court and special education matters under expert faculty supervision.”
UI police camera footage
The State Appeal Board also agreed Tuesday to pay an Iowa City man with a long list of political protests $5,000 after the University of Iowa withheld police body camera footage from his December 2023 arrest at Kinnick Stadium.
Oliver Weilein — who was arrested outside the White House in Washington, D.C. during inauguration protests in 2017 — in December 2023 joined pro-Palestinian protesters at Kinnick Stadium during UI President Barbara Wilson’s holiday party inside.
UI police arrested nine protesters who had chained themselves to Kinnick’s entrance and used metal bolts to lock exits. Weilein wasn’t among those initially arrested and had left the stadium that day when asked, according to his lawsuit.
But officers later arrested him — eventually releasing him without charges — and then denied him the body camera and video surveillance footage, calling them “confidential policy investigative records.”
“In April and May 2024, Weilein submitted requests to the university related to his Dec. 9, 2023 arrest by two UIPD officers and his subsequent release,” according to the settlement. “While the university provided Weilein with a redacted copy of the relevant police incident report, the university withheld production of police body camera footage and surveillance footage from Kinnick Stadium.”
Although the settlement stipulates it does not constitute an admission of guilt, it also requires the university to give Weilein the body camera footage.
Less than a year after filing his lawsuit in May 2024, Weilein in March 2025 won the Iowa City Council special election to fill the District C seat vacated by Andrew Dunn’s resignation effective Jan. 1.
Weilein will serve out the remaining three years on the term.
Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com
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