Lawsuits Filed Over Malinda Hoagland’s Death; State, County, Schools Failed to Protect Her; Family Seeks Accountability
As authorities seek the death penalty against the father and his convicted child abuser girlfriend in the tragic torture and killing of 12-year-old Malinda Hoagland, her family has now filed federal and state lawsuits against everyone who failed to protect her.
A federal lawsuit was filed on Aug. 14, 2024, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against the County of Chester, Chester County Children, Youth & Families, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, County of Monroe, Monroe County Office of Children & Youth, Coatesville Area School District, North Brandywine Middle School, Upper Dublin School District, and Horace S. Scott Middle School. The case number is 2:24-cv-04180.
The suit alleges wrongful death, repeated violations of the State-Created Danger Doctrine and overall egregious negligence and recklessness, reflected in multiple additional claims, among other allegations.
A state lawsuit was also filed on Aug. 14, 2024, in the Court of Common Pleas Philadelphia County against the Commonwealth Charter Academy, alleging wrongful death, negligence and recklessness, among other charges. The case number is 240801973.
The plaintiffs are Hoagland’s half-sisters, Emily Lee and Jamie and Abbey Hoagland, who are being represented by attorneys Tom Bosworth and Alexandria “Ally” Crouthamel.
Malinda Hoagland died on May 4, 2024, at a Pennsylvania hospital. She weighed just 50 pounds after a short, tortured life of starvation and horrific abuse. Her father, Rendell Hoagland and his girlfriend, Cindy Warren, have been charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy, kidnapping and aggravated assault, among hundreds of other counts. Authorities are seeking the death penalty.
The combined lawsuits seek millions of dollars in punitive and compensatory damages.
“There is no doubt the criminal prosecution will bring about justice for Rendell Hoagland and Cindy Warren’s unlawful and unconscionable acts. But that is only one avenue of justice aiming to hold the perpetrators of this horrendous torture and killing accountable,” Bosworth said. “The civil claims seek to ensure that full and complete accountability will be achieved for the heinous actions of the educators, case workers, and institutions who all failed Malinda miserably. The imposition of punitive damages is necessary to not only punish these defendants for their reckless conduct, but also as a deterrent so nothing like this ever happens again.”
Officials were aware of a 2020 custody order that severely restricted Warren’s contact with Hoagland, and a notification from one of her schools to the Chester County Children, Youth & Families department about their concerns for her welfare. Still, no one ever visited the home to check on her, even after she was pulled out of school in late 2023.
In addition, Warren never should have been allowed to live in the home with Malinda given her previous child abuse conviction. Warren and her previous husband were investigated about 20 years ago over allegations of abuse of Warren’s 2-year-old daughter and the couple’s 3-year-old son. Her then-husband pleaded guilty in the death of the 2-year-old child and is serving a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison. Warren was given leniency after testifying against him and pleaded guilty to child endangerment of the son. She was sentenced to 3-7 years in prison.
“These lawsuits are about accountability for everything that my father and his girlfriend did to my sister and the failure to protect her from such torture and abuse by her schools and state and county officials,” said Abbey Hoagland. “As we agonize every day thinking about what she went through, the horrors and pain she suffered, we just want to make sure no other child ever has to endure such cruelty while those who are in charge of protecting them turn a blind eye.”
At the time of her death, Malinda was emaciated and starving, her organs were failing and she was covered in bruises with at least a half-dozen broken bones. She had spent the previous nearly two-and-a-half years enduring unimaginable torture at the hands of her father and Warren, including being chained to furniture, kicked and punched repeatedly, forced to sleep on the floor, and suffering psychological and sexual torture while being denied food for days.
“The system failed Malinda, and who knows how many other children are suffering through similarly horrible circumstances. I hope that these lawsuits will finally shed light on the negligence of those who didn’t do their jobs and simply swept this under the rug as if Malinda was less than human,” said Emily Lee.
Jamie Hoagland is equally distraught and understandably angry.
“We need accountability not only for Malinda but for every child in the state,” she said. “Change must happen soon before another innocent child is killed.”
An autopsy revealed Malinda died from starvation and multiple blunt force injuries, including about 75 visible bruises along with contusions and ulcers. The report further revealed injuries to Malinda’s brain, heart, lungs, liver, pancreas and intestines, as well as healing fractures of the pelvic bone, lower vertebrae, right forearm, and both thigh bones.
After previously attending several schools in person where educators drop the ball, Malinda enrolled virtually in the Commonwealth Charter Academy in January 2024. Despite having knowledge of Warren’s criminal past as a convicted child abuser, “defendant CCA never informed any authorities or took any action to intervene to protect Malinda Hoagland, which was their obligation to do,” according to the state complaint.
Her teachers “failed to intervene, failed to investigate Malinda’s well-being, and failed to report suspected child abuse and neglect as mandated by law,” the complaint continues.
The federal lawsuit seeks to hold everyone else accountable for Malinda’s death, including state and county officials.
“The affirmative actions and conduct of the defendants, schools, educators, and youth services workers responsible for Malinda’s safety and well-being resulted in Malinda being placed in a home environment that was remarkably dangerous and which subjected Malinda to the daily risk of serious bodily injury and death at the hands of a known, convicted child abuser,” according to the federal complaint.
“We are distraught over Malinda’s death and the many red flags that were so obviously missed. We aim to seek change, accountability and justice for her and all children in the state of Pennsylvania,” Crouthamel said. “The very systems we have in place to prevent this situation from happening clearly failed and we’re still waiting for answers.”
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Tom Bosworth of Bosworth Law focuses on representing catastrophic injury victims, representing those harmed by dangerous consumer products, dangerous medical devices, medical malpractice, and more. In 2022 he became the youngest attorney in Pennsylvania history to obtain a verdict greater than $10 million for a living patient in a medical malpractice case.
Alexandria “Ally” Crouthamel of Crouthamel Law Offices focuses her practice on criminal defense. She defends clients from serious felonies that include aggravated DUI, homicide, theft, fraud, drug crimes and misdemeanors. She also assists family law clients in filing Protection From Abuse (PFA) orders, divorce, and custody motions, and protects children involved in child and youth legal matters. Crouthamel has a deep commitment to protecting the rights of her clients.
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Brian Skoloff
Newsroom PR
+1 801-889-9075
brian@newsroompr.com
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