DES MOINES, Iowa — Sabrina Ray of Perry, the 16-year-old girl who was tortured and starved to death in 2017, was in part a victim of dereliction of duty in the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS), according to a report on the case released Tuesday by the Iowa State Ombudsman’s office.
Sabrina weighed just 56 pounds at the time of her May 12, 2017, death. The office of the State Medical Examiner determined she died of severe malnutrition. She was one of two homeschooled Iowa teenagers who were starved to death by their adoptive parents within a few months of one another in 2016 and 2017.
The State Ombudsman’s report, entitled “Misplaced Trust: An Investigation of the Death of Sabrina Ray,” outlined a series of DHS oversights, omitted follow-ups and faulty communications between 2010 and 2015.
“In the Ray household, the mistreatment of children extended beyond the immediate family, to the parents’ in-home daycare and foster care children,” said State Ombudsman Kristie Hirschman. “Unlike the (Natalie) Finn case, where Natalie’s mother obstructed authorities’ attempts to inspect the home, DHS workers and contractors were regularly in Sabrina’s house and in contact with the family over a period of years. Suspicions of abuse were certainly present among those who interacted with children at the Ray household.
Unfortunately and sadly, a lack of communication among those workers weakened the oversight that could have discovered that abuse.”
Five members of the Ray family were eventually convicted for their involvement in the death of Sabrina and kidnapping of her younger sisters: Marc Ray, Misty Jo Bousman Ray, Carla Raye Bousman, Justin Dale Ray and Josie Raye Bousman.
