The family of a 12-year-old girl who was allegedly tortured to death by her father and evil stepmother has filed a lawsuit against several state and county agencies, alleging an “absolute failure of the system.”
Malinda Hoagland’s three half-sisters are seeking millions of dollars from Chester County, its Office of Children, Youth and Families, Monroe County and its Office of Children and Youth, as well as the Coatesville Area School District and the state of Pennsylvania in the federal lawsuit filed Wednesday.
A separate lawsuit has also been filed in state court against Commonwealth Charter Academy, the school Malinda attended from January until her death in May.
The lawsuits say all of these different agencies “turned a blind eye” to warning signs that Malinda was being beaten and starved by her father, Rendell Hoagland, 52, and stepmother Cindy Warren, 45, before her death in May. according to Fox 29.
These ignored warning signs were “so staggering and show an absolute failure of the system that should never be allowed to happen again,” the lawsuits say.
Malinda Hoagland’s three half-sisters have filed wrongful death lawsuits against several county and Pennsylvania agencies, as well as the schools she attended.
Her father, Rendell Hoagland, 52, and stepmother, Cindy Warren, 45, are now charged with her death.
The lawsuits allege that representatives of Chester and Monroe counties, as well as staff at the schools Malinda attended, “affirmatively used their authority to place her in a home where they knew she was the victim of ongoing serial abuse, hunger and torment.”
“Had these defendants not abused their authority in this manner, Malinda Hoagland would have been removed from her residence, would have been spared months of torture, abuse and starvation, and would be alive today,” the lawsuits say. according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The lawsuits argue that Warren should never have been allowed to live with Malinda because of a child abuse conviction more than 20 years ago that resulted in the death of her ex-husband McKinley Warren Jr.’s two-year-old daughter, Jessica Bock.
Jessica died in 2000 after Warren refused to change her diaper because she had “painted her nails.” Instead, he called McKinley, who had been drinking at a bar, to come home and change the little girl’s diaper, and that’s when he fatally injured Jessica.
Warren’s ex-husband, McKinley Warren Jr., is serving a 25- to 50-year sentence for Jessica’s murder and abusing their three-year-old son, Isaiah.
Meanwhile, Warren was sentenced to three to seven years in prison after testifying against her ex-partner and pleading guilty to endangering her child.
But in a 2020 custody order in Monroe County, Warren was explicitly prohibited from being alone with Malinda, the Inquirer reports.
However, nothing was done when Rendell moved her and Malinda to Montgomery County and eventually to Chester County, the lawsuits allege.
The lawsuits argue that Warren should never have been allowed to live with Malinda because of a child abuse conviction more than 20 years ago.
Warren’s ex-husband, McKinley Warren Jr., is serving a 25- to 50-year sentence for the death of their two-year-old daughter, Jessica (right)
The lawsuits also claim that staff at North Brandywine High School, where Malinda was enrolled until November 2023, filed a complaint with the state Department of Health’s ChildLine service over the girls’ absences and concerns that she was being abused at home, given her physical condition and behavior.
Records show Malinda had about 25 unexcused absences and 10 additional excused absences in 2023 before she was removed from in-person school. NBC Philadelphia Report.
But employees from the Office of Children, Youth and Families only called the home to discuss concerns and never made an in-person visit, the lawsuit alleges.
In those two phone calls, Hoagland and Warren said they would address concerns about Malinda at her next doctor’s appointment, but records show there was no indication she had seen a doctor for several years before her death, the lawsuits claim.
“If you have a student in your class who is becoming emaciated, losing weight, has scabs, wounds, bruises, (is) hiding food in their locker — which they knew about — you have to do more,” said attorney Tom Bosworth.
She said the goal of the civil lawsuits is to “ensure that full and complete accountability is achieved for the egregious actions of the educators, social workers and institutions that failed Malinda so miserably.”
‘The imposition of punitive damages is necessary not only to punish these defendants for their reckless conduct, but also as a deterrent so that nothing like this ever happens again.’
An autopsy found Malinda had more than 75 identifiable ‘bruises, contusions, ulcers and pressure sores’ on her body.
Prosecutors said police found Malinda “barely alive” on May 4 after her father called 911 claiming she had crashed her bike into a tree.
But doctors at a local hospital were shocked by her condition, which included severe bruising, half a dozen broken bones and liver damage.
An autopsy eventually discovered more than 75 individually identifiable “bruises, contusions, ulcers and pressure sores” on her body, and concluded that her death was caused by “starvation and multiple blunt force injuries.”
She weighed just 50 pounds at the time of her death, prosecutors said.
A subsequent investigation found that Rendell and Warren rushed to delete videos and text messages in the hours before her death.
But officers were still able to recover “hundreds of videos and still images from the defendants’ cell phones and Blink security cameras” after obtaining a search warrant.
They reportedly show Hoagland and Warren handcuffing Malinda’s ankles to furniture, forcing her to sleep chained to the floor without pillows or blankets and telling her not to expect breakfast, lunch or dinner.
The obese couple allegedly forced the girl to perform “endless amounts” of strenuous exercises while handcuffed as punishment for “perceived slights.”
Those ‘snubs’ included stealing food, not smiling during Zoom school sessions or wetting herself while handcuffed to a piece of furniture.
They watched her through the video surveillance system and shouted orders and reprimands through the speaker system while the girl was chained and alone in the basement.
Other images show Malinda begging Warren to release her, according to the lawsuit.
“I’m not going to play dumb, I’m not going to make you angry,” the young woman was allegedly heard pleading.
I know I’ve messed up. Please allow me to change.
Lawyers for Malinda’s half-sisters say they want the various agencies to be held accountable
Prosecutors also say Malinda’s father and stepmother removed her from in-person school in November 2023 and enrolled her in online classes only.
They then allegedly used makeup to cover her bruises and handcuffed her to the ground.
Hoagland and Warren now face the death penalty on charges of first-degree murder.
But investigators have said there is no indication that either the Coatesville Area School District or the Commonwealth Charter Academy Online failed to comply with legal requirements to report abuse.
They said evidence shows teachers at both schools often communicated with Malinda.
In a statement to NBC Philadelphia, a spokesperson for the Coatesville Area School District said: “The torture and death of this child is a horrific tragedy.
“We follow and exceed state-mandated policies and procedures for training teachers and staff to identify and report suspected child abuse,” the spokesperson continued.
‘We were shocked and devastated by the news that Malinda Hoagland had died months after being removed from our school district last year.’
Commonwealth Charter Academy also said law enforcement officials found they had not failed in their responsibilities to report abuse, noting that Malinda was an honor student who regularly attended classes and actively participated.
“Malinda Hoagland’s death was tragic and heartbreaking for the CCA school community,” she said.
A representative for the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services also told NBC Philadelphia that they could not comment on pending litigation, but called Malinda’s loss “tragic.”
‘Our sincere thoughts remain with Malinda’s family and friends as the death and loss of any child is tragic.’
