Rep. Susan Wild Defended a Children's Psych Hospital in Sodomy Case. Now She Wants To Grant $1 Million for the Organization.

As a corporate attorney, Rep. Susan Wild (D., Pa.) represented a children's psychiatric hospital after one of its counselors sodomized a teenage patient, arguing that the attack was a "medical incident" that should be covered by insurance. Earlier this year, Wild sought $1 million in congressional funding for the organization, which has had numerous other sexual assaults, homicides, and suicides at its facilities over the years.

Wild, who was recently appointed chair of the House Ethics Committee, represented the Pennsylvania-based KidsPeace in a 2005 lawsuit with the nonprofit’s insurance company over a settlement with a 15-year-old patient raped by his counselor, according to court records obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. The patient, Matthew Craft, said counselor Dean Sine imprisoned and raped him in a facility bathroom. After the rape, according to Craft, KidsPeace staff treated him for constipation.

Craft sued KidsPeace for negligence, saying the company knew of Sine’s propensity for violence stemming from a 1993 incident in which he was charged with manslaughter after suffocating a 12-year-old KidsPeace patient. Wild asserted that KidsPeace’s insurance company, and not KidsPeace, was on the hook for a $700,000 settlement payout to Craft because the rape was a "medical incident" covered under its insurance policy. She also claimed that KidsPeace could not have "prevented [Sine’s] malfeasance" without a "crystal ball," and thus was not negligent.

In April, Wild asked the House Appropriations Committee to give $1 million to KidsPeace to repair its Orchard Hills campus in Orefield, Pa. Wild said in a letter to constituents that she would "likely receive hundreds of applications" for funding through the Community Funding Program, but would be able to pick just 10 projects for consideration by the House Appropriations Committee that "fill a clear and present need in the community" and have "proven, widespread, and robust support from the community."