Federal Lawsuit Alleges Delaware County Couple Was Warned About DHS Visits

A new federal lawsuit alleges a Delaware County couple who kept foster children and adopted others was alerted by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services of pending visits for checks on the children's welfare, the Associated Press reports.

The adults in the home -- Deidre and Jerry Matthews -- were charged with several crimes after DHS representatives found nine children living in deplorable conditions among primates and other animals.

The Matthews face dozens of charges of child abuse, endangerment, neglect and enabling child abuse for alleged beatings, keeping a child in a dog cage and denying food and medical care to nine children.

Both have both pleaded not guilty.

9/9/2014 Related Story: Teenager Testifies In Jay Child Abuse Case

The federal lawsuit was filed Wednesday on behalf of the nine children who were either adopted by the couple or placed in their care by DHS.

The suit alleges the couple was told about upcoming inspections so they could clean the home and rehearse interviews with the children.

DHS spokeswoman Sheree Powell declined to comment to the AP.

According to a 2014 News On 6 story, a teenage girl who lived in the home testified she was injured by one of the family’s three monkeys and that her mother refused to take her for medical care, but instead she used a household sewing kit to doctor the wounds.

The family had more than 50 animals, including monkeys, lemurs and marmosets, we previously reported. In addition, some of the children in the Matthews home allegedly hadn’t been to school in several weeks.

In 2014, the Grove Sun reported that the Matthews family earned the 2008 DHS title of “adoptive family of the year."