Hello readers,

Well, it seems that Cultural Care is back making headlines with another law suit involving sexual abuse and pornographic activity.  This is a very troubling news story and one that can not be easily swept under the rug.  This is not the first time Cultural Care has been sued by host parents! 

If you recall, in 2008, Cultural Care was sued by a host family for 5 million dollars in a civil suit when their au pair took pornographic photos of their 5 year old daughter, and soon after that, one of their au pairs from Slovakia came forward and accused her host father of sexual assault (criminal trial against Mr. Bhatti is still pending).

Regarding this latest story, a Lockport mother is suing Cultural Care after their au pair allegedly sexually abused her young boy.  To read the entire story, see Cultural Care Gets Sued Again.

According to the complaint, the mother hired Cultural Care, in October of 2007, to find her an au pair and she was told an au pair named Julian from Columbia was available.  The complaint states that defendant Dorte Strobel, an executive from Cultural Care, told plaintiff that if she did not pay the fee that evening and pick up Julian from his host family, "he would be returned to Columbia and the search process for another au pair could take several months."

The complaint further states that Strobel told the plaintiff that Julian's "previous placement did not work out" and that his prior host family's telephone number would be provided, but was not. 

Shortly after his arrival in the home, the host mother complained about the au pair, telling the defendant, Ms. Strobel, Julian was having parties and drinking and smoking against the host mom's wishes.

In November, when the host mom asked her LCC and the agency's Program Director, Maureen McDonnell, to remove Julian, Ms. McDonnell refused. 

The host mom, probably concerned that she would not receive a refund (Cultural Care takes a large deposit, and when things go wrong, are often reluctant to pay the refund) relented.  

Host parents complain about the difficulty of getting a refund from this agency, here on this website, on our host parents' customer satisfaction surveys and on other websites on the internet.   

Tragically, between November and December of 2007, and according to the host monm, the au pair hit the young son, sexually abused him and took nude photos of him (all of this is stated in the formal complaint).  

Perhaps I was right the first time, maybe Cultural Care is getting too big for their britches, and they are growing too fast and, in their aggressive bid to be number one and take market share from the other au pair agencies in the USA, they have bitten off too much to chew.  

Children are getting hurt and that is not okay.  

Abused children suffer all their lives with the scars of abuse: the breach of trust in adults, the betrayal, the physical pain and the shame. 

We are sorry for the mother and her child.  We can only hope that Cultural Care begins to really screen their au pairs, stop their sales war with other agencies, and listen to their families - if a mother wants an au pair removed, remove him! 

Mothers do know best!