7-year-old girl reports she was sexually assaulted inside Johnston County Department of Social Services building

A 7-year-old girl in the care of the Johnston County Department of Social Services reports she was sexually assaulted inside the department’s offices.

Smithfield police are now investigating.

WRAL Investigates spoke with the girl’s mother but is not using the mother’s name to protect her daughter’s identity.

On Monday afternoon, the woman said the Johnston County Department of Social Services [DSS] reached out to her.

“I’m astounded that, that was even … there was even the possibility of this happening,” she said.

The mother shared records of her daughter’s visit to the emergency department at WakeMed, which state “she was touched by another 17-year-old male in the custody of child protective services while they were coloring in the office.”

Smithfield police confirmed they’re investigating an aggravated assault with sexual motives, but wouldn’t say if a juvenile petition – which initiates a court case for someone younger than 18 – has been filed.

“I’m full of mixed emotions,” the girl’s mother said. “I’m angry. I’m sad. I’m upset.

“It’s, I can’t just feel one emotion right now because it’s my child. It’s my kid. And, we trusted that she was going to be safe and she wasn’t.”

WRAL Investigates has reached out multiple times to Johnston County DSS asking how this could happen inside a DSS office, and whether the girl and the teen boy were supervised. The department declined to respond to those specific questions.

Instead, the department released a statement that reads in part, “The Department wants to assure the public that it takes the allegations in the report seriously and is fully cooperating with the proper officials.”

However, the department’s statement is not enough for the girl’s mother.

“[There are] so many people there,” she said. “[There are] cameras all over the place. Who was watching these children?”

The mother said her two daughters were removed from her home four years ago. Since then, she said DSS has moved them again and again, including from one foster family that was on the verge of adopting them.

With this allegation of sexual assault, this mother worries the system is doing far more harm than good

“She’s at an age where she understands now,” the mother said. “So, that’s going to go with her for the rest of her life. And I know how that feels. And I don’t want my child to feel like that. I love her so much.”