Sex or Foster Care

June 13, 2009 permalink

Since girls have been known to make false allegations, some skepticism is in order for this report. While other social workers have been caught demanding sex from mothers in exchange for custody, Seattle social worker Robert Cline reached a new low by demanding sex from a foster girl.

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Social worker accused of attempting to trade foster home placement for sex

Thursday, June 11, 2009, Last updated June 12, 2009 4:40 p.m. PT, By LEVI PULKKINEN, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

Prosecutors have filed sex crime charges against a social worker accused of offering to place a then 13-year-old girl in a foster home of her choice in exchange for sex.

Indian Child Welfare caseworker Robert Cline, 48, was charged earlier this month with a single count of immoral communication with a minor, a felony sex crime.

King County sheriff's detectives were first alerted to the allegations in 2007, when they received a referral from child protective services, according to police statements filed with the court.

At the time, Cline denied any wrongdoing. He told detectives the girl was angry with him because he'd asked her about rumors that she'd joined a gang, and alleged that the girl had fabricated a report because he had removed her from her mother's home.

Unable to reach the girl, detectives suspended the case until another Indian Child Welfare caseworker informed them the girl was now willing to discuss the alleged incident.

According to detectives' statement, the girl became upset while discussing the incident during a January interview. She told detectives she was meeting with Cline at his office to discuss where she would live while in foster care when he asked her "what she would do for him" if he allowed her to live at a friend's home.

Cline went on to demand the girl have sex with him, prosecutors say. After being rebuffed, they say Cline drove her home.

Prosecutors say he touched her inappropriately during the trip, then threatened to harm her.

"She said Robert (Cline) told her not to tell anyone about what happened, and said 'You will be hurt and you will regret it,'" Detective Belinda Ferguson said in court documents.

Cline is scheduled to enter a plea to the charge on June 18 in King County Superior Court. He has not been jailed in the case.

Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com.

Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer