## Facts

- Two unrelated children, “Alexis Doe” and “John Doe,” approximately three years old, attended a day care center operated at Scott Air Force Base by federal employees.
- Alexis’s mother reported that after pickup Alexis stated a “purple man” had poked her “gina” (vagina) with a “scrape.”
- After learning of abuse allegations at the center, John’s mother questioned him; he stated that a man touched his penis and a woman touched his “bombosity” (buttocks).
- Alexis repeated allegations during an interview at a rape crisis center and used anatomically correct dolls to demonstrate abuse; John gave detailed descriptions to his parents.
- Both children underwent therapy for emotional and behavioral problems following the alleged abuse.
- The plaintiffs alleged the United States was liable under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) because negligent supervision at the center allowed unknown third parties to sexually abuse the children.

## Issues

1. Whether the evidence supported findings that the children were sexually abused at the day care center and that negligent supervision by federal employees proximately caused the injuries under Illinois tort law as applied through the FTCA.
2. Whether the district court’s damages awards of $25,000 per child were clearly erroneous or otherwise reversible.
3. Whether Illinois law permits parents to recover independent damages for emotional distress when they did not contemporaneously witness the abuse of their children.

## Decision

- The Seventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment after a bench trial.
- The court upheld findings that abuse occurred while the children were in the center’s care and that negligent supervision proximately caused their injuries.
- The court affirmed the $25,000 damages award to each child.
- The court affirmed dismissal of the parents’ independent emotional-distress claims.

## Legal Principles

- Under the FTCA, the United States is liable “in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual under like circumstances,” and liability is determined by the substantive law of the state where the act or omission occurred.
- Following a bench trial, appellate review of factual findings (including credibility determinations) is for clear error; the trial court’s choice between plausible accounts is rarely disturbed.
- Damage awards in bench trials are reviewed deferentially and are not revised absent clear error or a result outside the permissible range.
- Under Illinois law, bystander/negligent infliction of emotional distress recovery is limited and generally requires contemporaneous perception of the injury-producing event; learning of harm after the fact is insufficient on these facts.

## Conclusion

The Seventh Circuit held that the record supported FTCA liability for negligent supervision at a federally operated day care center and that the children’s modest damages awards were within the trial court’s discretion, while Illinois law barred the parents’ separate claims for emotional distress because they did not witness the abuse as it occurred.


Doe v. United States, 976 F.2d 1071 (7th Cir. 1992)