Woman sues NYC for $900 trillion for putting kids in foster home

Birmingham Star (ANI) Thursday 9th February, 2012

A woman from Staten Island has sued New York City for 900 trillion dollars for emotional and physical trauma, after a child services group removed her children from her custody and put them in foster care in 2008.

According to court documents, Fausat Ogunbayo, 46, said she and her boys suffered "over three years of terror, horror, grievous harm, time lost, substantial economic hardship and injuries," ABC News reported.

The children, then 12 and 10, relocated to Queens after their mother lost custody, the Staten Island Advance revealed.

Court papers claimed that the city removed the boys because Ogunbayo was mentally ill and refused treatment.

She reportedly suffered from hallucinations and left her boys at home alone for several hours.

The city maintained that Administration for Children's Services (ACS) received several complaints about Ogunbayo's alleged mistreatment of her children in 2008.

Court documents also show that the mom told doctors her children's skin was getting darker by the day because of radiation and the FBI was out to get her children.

While mental illness alone cannot cause parents to lose custody of their children, it is unclear whether her mental state was a precipitating factor in the ACS move to take away her boys in the first place.

Ogunbayo did not return a request for comment, but the New York City Law Department issued a statement, saying, "We are unable to comment on pending litigation. The amount a plaintiff requests in a lawsuit has no bearing on whether the case has any merit and no relation to actual damages if any."

The department said they could not share any information regarding Ogunbayo's mental health. The children remain in ACS custody.

Ogunbayo is representing herself in court and, in her complaint, obtained by the Smoking Gun website which posts legal documents an d records, she said that the city "recklessly disregarded" her "right to family integrity."

While living with their mother, the children had excellent attendance and grades at school, Ogunbayo maintained.

Doctors offered letters to the court, in which they reported the children were of proper height and weight and otherwise healthy while living with their mother.

Since they have lived in their foster home, Ogunbayo said, their school attendance has declined and one of her sons was recently arrested for marijuana possession. (ANI)