Green Hill School Sexual Assault Lawsuit: Pope Case and Payouts

The Green Hill School sexual assault lawsuit landscape includes a $2 million-plus settlement reached in 2021 with 10 former residents, more than $4.4 million in total state payouts to 23 current and former residents, and a pending civil case in Pierce County Superior Court accusing a former facility doctor of assaulting hundreds of children between 1982 and 2020. The state-run juvenile facility in Chehalis, Washington, is operated by the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) and has been named alongside DCYF, DSHS, the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration, and Maple Lane School as a defendant in ongoing litigation.¹²

The Dr. Isaac Pope Lawsuit

The largest active case was filed on October 20, 2025, in Pierce County Superior Court as Case No. 25-2-12417-2. The complaint alleges that Dr. Isaac Pope, an 86-year-old retired Lewis County pediatrician and former Chehalis city councilor, systematically sexually assaulted hundreds of children under the guise of medical examinations while serving as a doctor at Green Hill School and Maple Lane School in Grand Mound. According to the complaint, Pope performed unnecessary and invasive examinations for penile, scrotal, and prostate cancer on minors behind closed doors between roughly 1982 and his retirement in 2020.²

The suit was filed on behalf of 14 plaintiffs, identified by initials, and names Pope, his wife Beverly Pope, the state of Washington, DSHS, DCYF, the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration, Green Hill School, and Maple Lane School. Attorneys David S. Vogel, Anne M. Bremner, and Patrick D. Moore represent the plaintiffs, who have demanded a jury trial. Pope’s defense attorneys, Rabia Ahmad and David Corey, have declined to comment on the active litigation.³²

The complaint references a 2019 letter from the Green Hill superintendent that reportedly ordered Pope to have a nurse present during physical exams. Plaintiffs allege he continued conducting exams without one through 2020. Pope was named in some of the accusations behind the earlier 2021 settlement, though he was not a named defendant in that case. As of mid-2026, he has not been charged with any crimes. Trial is scheduled to begin on October 15, 2026.²

The 14 named plaintiffs are only part of the population that has come forward. Attorney David S. Vogel told Fox 13 Seattle that claims have been filed against the state on behalf of “well over 200” clients related to abuse at Green Hill and Maple Lane, with an early resolution process being used for claims not yet in active litigation.⁴²

The 2021 Settlement and Total State Payouts

In September 2021, Washington settled with 10 young men who alleged they were sexually abused while confined at Green Hill. The Pierce County Superior Court case produced payouts totaling more than $2 million, with individual amounts ranging from $40,000 to $350,000. The complaint alleged that the facility fostered a culture of sexual abuse, failed to properly screen staff, and failed to train employees to recognize grooming behavior.⁵⁶

Across all Green Hill sexual abuse settlements, Washington has paid out over $4.4 million to 23 current or former residents, with underlying allegations dating back to the 1970s.¹ One of those settlements, finalized in 2021, paid former resident Sam Hawkins $325,000 over allegations of sexual misconduct by a security officer dating to 1991.⁷

Recent Staff Criminal Cases Behind New Civil Exposure

A run of recent staff prosecutions is likely to drive further civil claims. Media and oversight reports have documented at least 21 criminal referrals involving Green Hill staff since 2024.⁸

Emily Baker, a former security officer, pleaded guilty in September 2025 to two counts of custodial sexual misconduct and four counts of introducing contraband after prosecutors presented video showing Baker and an inmate having sex, recorded on a cellphone set up in a closet. She was sentenced in October 2025 to 84 months in prison. Baker admitted to a sexual relationship with the same inmate involved with former employee Angel Marie Misner, who was arrested in July 2024 and later convicted of abuse of office.⁹⁷¹⁰

Michelle Goodman was originally charged in October 2024 with three counts of first-degree custodial sexual misconduct. Under a September 2025 plea agreement, she pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree custodial sexual misconduct and two counts of introducing contraband, and was sentenced in December 2025 to 30 months in prison. She also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor abuse of office in a separate matter for failing to intervene in an inmate assault.¹¹¹²

In March 2026, a 53-year-old former female staff member was booked into the Lewis County Jail on three counts of second-degree custodial sexual misconduct involving a 20-year-old male inmate, with video evidence confirming the misconduct. She was terminated from DCYF. Baker’s case had been described as the sixth instance of a Green Hill employee engaging in an improper relationship with an inmate within a single year.¹³⁹ DCYF has cited overcrowding and staffing shortfalls, including 60% turnover during the pandemic and a 180-bed facility holding 236 residents by July 2024, as contributing factors in the breakdowns that allowed misconduct.¹¹⁴

Filing a Claim: Deadlines and the Tort Notice Process

Washington’s statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse claims is codified at RCW 4.16.340. Under HB 1618, which took effect June 6, 2024, there is no time limit for filing civil claims arising from childhood sexual abuse that occurred on or after that date.¹⁵

For abuse that occurred before June 6, 2024, the law gives a survivor three years from the latest of three dates: the act itself, the date the victim discovered the injury, or the date the victim connected the abuse to the injury. If the victim was a minor when the abuse occurred, the clock does not begin until they turn 18. A discovery-rule provision allows the limitation period to run from the last act in a common scheme or plan of abuse, and a parent’s or guardian’s knowledge is not attributed to the child.¹⁵

Because Green Hill is a state-run facility, a survivor must file a formal tort claim notice with the Office of Risk Management before proceeding with a lawsuit. That step triggers a mandatory waiting period before suit can be filed.³ The elimination of the statute of limitations for future claims has led observers to expect further litigation against the state.¹

1
The Imprint. Conditions Dire at Washington States Largest Lockup for Young Adults
2
The Chronicle. Isaac Pope Accused of Sexually Assaulting Hundreds at Two Juvenile Facilities in Lawsuit
3
Pierce County Superior Court. First Amended Complaint, Case No. 25-2-12417-2
4
Fox 13 Seattle. WA Doctor Sexually Assaulted Children
5
PCVA Law. PCVA Reaches $2M Settlement for Sexual Abuse of 10 Juveniles at Green Hill School
6
PCVA Law. Green Hill School Ongoing Investigation
7
12News. Washington Recorded Sex Tapes Juvenile Facility Green Hill
8
Washington State Legislature. Statement on Another Green Hill Scandal
9
MyNorthwest. Green Hill School Sex Inmate
10
The Chronicle. Former Green Hill School Employee Convicted
11
The Chronicle. Former Green Hill Employee Sentenced for Custodial Sexual Misconduct
12
The Chronicle. Former Green Hill Employee Pleads Guilty to Custodial Sexual Misconduct
13
KOMO News. 117 Green Hill School Investigations in 2025 as Staffer Faces New Sex Misconduct Counts
14
MyNorthwest. Sexual Abuse at Green Hill School
15
Washington State Legislature. RCW 4.16.340