Woman suing local foster home after allegedly being sexually assaulted by an employee multiple times
Published at
IDAHO FALLS — A local woman is suing her former residence, an Idaho Falls group home for foster children, after an employee reportedly raped her multiple times.
A woman, who EastIdahoNews.com has chosen not to name as she is an alleged victim of sexual assault, is suing East Idaho Youth Home LLC (EIYH), the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections, the Idaho Bureau of Probation and Parole, Maxie Nathaniel Riddle, the alleged abuser, and ten other unnamed defendants.
The woman is accusing the defendants of a violation of her civil rights, failure to train and supervise as to response to sexual assault, illegal, abusive and inappropriate conduct, assault and battery, negligence, gross negligence, willful or reckless misconduct, and two violations of Idaho Code 6-1701 against Riddle and EIYH.
According to the lawsuit, the woman was 14 years old in 2020 and lived at EIYH. She was a ward of the State of Idaho and in the Idaho juvenile probation program.
Between April 25, 2020, and April 29, 2020, the now 20-year-old woman says she was sexually assaulted by Riddle, an employee at the group home, five separate times.
RELATED | Head coach of Pocatello MMA team arrested for alleged sexual conduct with minor in 2020
Riddle currently has multiple cases alleging criminal sexual assault against minors at the same time as the alleged incidents, including the victim in the lawsuit and at least one other victim.
In the case with the victim from the lawsuit, he is charged with two counts of felony lewd conduct with a child under 16. He is scheduled for a change of plea on July 8.
He is charged in another case with two counts of felony lewd conduct with a child under 16, sexual exploitation of a child, and felony destruction of evidence for an alleged assault in 2018. He is scheduled for a jury trial on Aug. 14.
In his last case, he was charged with felony forcible penetration by use of a foreign object in 2018. He is scheduled for a jury trial in this case also on Aug. 14.
Riddle is currently incarcerated in the Bonneville County Jail.
Though he has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.
According to the lawsuit, the abuse allegedly happened to the now 20-year-old victim in her bedroom at the group home, in Riddle’s car, and in “various rooms and locations in and around the East Idaho Youth Home.”
“During the times that Riddle engaged in illegal and inappropriate sexual conduct with plaintiff, there were video cameras located throughout the East Idaho Youth Homes,” says the lawsuit. “No supervisor of East Idaho Youth Homes reviewed any of the videotapes to ensure plaintiff’s safety, including the fact that Riddle was violating group home rules, which included a rule that Riddle was not allowed in Plaintiff’s room by himself with Pplaintiff.”
The lawsuit claims that defendants “knew or should have known that Riddle was having inappropriate sexual contact with the plaintiff, but took no action to protect the plaintiff from Riddle.”
Court filings say that logs kept by EIYH showed that Riddle was taking the victim out of the group home alone, which is reportedly against the group home policy.
“Neither did either Idaho Department of Health and Welfare or Juvenile Probation conduct any sort of investigation or inspection to ensure the plaintiff’s safety at East Idaho Youth Homes during the time periods applicable to this complaint,” says the lawsuit.
The woman also claims that the group home failed to conduct due diligence when Riddle was hired.
“Had it done so, it would have discovered that Riddle had been dismissed from employment at the public high school, Skyline High School, for similar, inappropriate conduct with minors,” says the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also claims that Riddle gave them “vaping material, which was a violation of East Idaho Youth Home policy and procedure as well as a violation of Juvenile Probation policy and procedure.”
Riddle also reportedly took the victim to and from various appointments without any other personnel present, and was “allowed to check the plaintiff out of the East Idaho Youth Homes alone.”
The victim states she has suffered “substantial personal injuries and damages” such as “assault, battery, rape, physical injuries, and severe emotional and mental distress” as a result of Riddle and the “failure of management, administrative and supervisory staff” of the group home and other defendants.
The lawsuit asks for “special damages for past and future medical or psychological care”, “general damages for pain and suffering, emotional distress, and mental anguish”, and “attorney fees and costs of suit.”
EIYH answered the lawsuit, admitting to housing the victim at their group home and to having cameras at their facilities, but denies or “lacks knowledge” of the rest of the lawsuit’s claims.
A jury trial is scheduled for June 26, 2026.
“The plaintiff fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted,” says the answer filing. “The plaintiff’s claims are barred because relevant actions taken by any other defendant were not done within the course and scope of employment with EIYH.”
Karen Tornkvist, the chief administrator and owner of EIYH, said that due to the pending lawsuit, the group home will not be commenting at this time. We also reached out to the alleged victim’s attorney Anthony Sasser, and were told they do not wish to comment. We will update if we learn more.