From the day Stripes told church pastors about the molestations until CPS finally arrived at the house 16 days later, the girls were "isolated, starved, tortured, sleep-deprived and beaten in order to brainwash plaintiffs to minimize and deny the abuse," according to the complaint.
"Plaintiffs were not allowed to talk to each other or to leave their rooms except to go to the bathroom once a day. They were allowed only small amounts of bread and water, and sometimes a small piece of bologna. They were not allowed to sleep more than very short periods of time; they were repeatedly told that they would be split up and never see each other again if they told the truth to CPS about the abuse they endured. They were told that the two oldest plaintiffs would be sent to juvenile hall and that the other plaintiffs would be sent to separate places and receive even worse abuse than from their parents. They were drilled with questions and mandatory answers in preparation for the CPS interviews, and beaten for wrong answers during preparation."
The visit from CPS agents was a failure as well, the women say.
"Plaintiffs were interviewed while Glenda Lea Dutro sat next to them holding their hand and squeezing their hand any time there was a question that could implicate Zion Dutro or Glenda Lea Dutro," the lawsuit states. "The interviews were conducted with Zion Dutro in the house in a position that the plaintiffs could see him watching them. Plaintiffs were terrified and believed from the brainwashing that had occurred that their fate would be even worse if they told the truth about what had occurred. Consequently they lied to CPS about the conduct of Zion Dutro and Glenda Lee Dutro.
"These interviews were conducted in a manner contrary to procedures set forth in regulations and DSS directives. Plaintiffs had very much wanted the opportunity to ask CPS what would happen to them if they had been abused and to find out if what their parents had told them was true. They never had that opportunity because none of the plaintiffs were ever alone with any CPS worker. Moreover, during the interviews Jack Rogers and Tom Potts treated Zion Dutro and Glenda Lea Dutro as the victims and blamed plaintiffs for making the accusations."
The sisters say CPS never returned to the Dutro home after that August 1995 visit.
Stipes' complaint allegedly led to Zion Dutro facing a sentence of probation, and registering as a sex offender, three months later after pleading guilty to child molestation, based on an "isolated fondling of one plaintiff."
The Dutros "successfully concealed through fear and intimidation as well as reckless conduct by the defendants the true abuse that had occurred, including forcible rape, sodomization [sic] and oral copulation," according to the complaint.
Once convicted, the Dutros abuse allegedly escalated.
Since Zion Dutro could not live in the house during the six-month probationary period, he and his wife moved into in a nearby apartment, pulled the girls out of school and kept them in the house unsupervised with little food, the lawsuit states.
"At night, Glenda Lea Dutro shuttled the plaintiffs one by one to the apartment where Zion Dutro furnished plaintiffs with alcohol and molested plaintiffs," according to the complaint.
Once again, the sisters say local government agencies failed to protect them from their parents. They claim that neither the probation department nor CPS made surprise inspections or conducted face-to-face visits as required by Dutro's plea.
"Had even a cursory visit been made to the house, the county would have likely discovered, at a minimum, that no adult was living at the house and the plaintiffs had minimal food," the complaint states. "Interviews of the plaintiffs without their parents present would have disclosed the extreme abuse resulting in, at a minimum, the removal the plaintiffs from the care and custody of Zion Dutro and Glenda Lea Dutro."
Furthermore, the women say Contra Costa "should never have allowed plaintiffs, particularly foster children or relative minors Frances and Christina, to stay with a convicted child molester."
They allegedly shared more about the torture they suffered at the hands of their parents over the years, to little avail.
In 2002, when the church was set to make Glenda Lea Dutro a youth adviser, Sara Dutro says she recounted the full history to Calvary pastor Anthony Lee. Lee allegedly responded: "Sins of her father do not reflect on sins of her mother."
Sara Dutro says also reported the abuse to the Antioch Police Department in 2003, but the officers still failed to make an arrest despite her videotaped interview.
Zion Dutro allegedly wanted to adopt several small children from Mexico in 2005, so Amber Dutro called Calvary's head pastor to demand intervention.
The pastor, who is not named as a defendant, told Amber that "God forgives and so should you," according to the complaint.
This same individual would tell an Antioch police detective years later that "everybody knew Zion was on Megan's Law," the women claim.
But the church took a different view when "Amber printed out 200 copies of Zion Dutro's Megan's Law registration information and distributed them to the congregation," the complaint states.
Calling the children's accusations "demonic attacks," Calvary pastors allegedly asked the congregation to pray over Zion Dutro because of the "evil cast over him by the Dutro children's lies and accusations."
The sisters say that they all suffer from severe psychological disorders because of the abuse they suffered at the hands of Zion and Glenda Lea Dutro. According to their complaint, they all exhibit signs of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, Stockholm syndrome, ulcers, panic attacks, vomiting, nausea, insomnia and migraines.
Since Glenda Lea Dutro could one day make parole, the women say they have made inquiries about legally changing their identities.
The sisters' litany of physical damages caused by Zion Dutro is equally harrowing.
"Plaintiffs were regularly battered by Zion Dutro resulting in severe physical injuries including, but not limited to stitches, sutures, broken bones, dislocated thumb, sprains, bruised spinal cord, laceration to head, internal bleeding, shooting pains in abdomen, chest and face injuries, abrasions to face, contusions and lacerations to lower pelvis area and excessive vaginal bleeding," according to the complaint.
The women seek punitive damages for civil rights violations and breach of duty. They are represented by Jason Runckel with O'Connor, Runckel & O'Malley in Walnut Creek, Calif.
Contra Costa County, Rodgers and Potts are represented by Edrington, Schirmer & Murphy in Pleasant Hill, Calif.
Antioch is represented by Bertrand, Fox & Elliot.
Calvary, Wood and Lee are represented by Bowman & Berreth.
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