The state has tentatively agreed to pay $2 million to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of a Kailua boy who was so badly beaten by his mother in 1997 that he was left brain-damaged, blind and in a persistent vegetative state.

The state was sued in connection with the beating of 4-year-old Reubyne Buentipo Jr. because the boy had been in foster care, and state case workers returned the child to his mother despite earlier injuries to the boy that left him hospitalized in June 1995 and April 1996.

The lawsuit, filed by Reubyne's lawyer, Francis O'Brien, alleged the state was negligent for continuing to return the boy to his mother, Kimberly Pada, and for failing to investigate reports that the boy was at risk after he was returned to his mother.

The state argued it must be immune from such lawsuits to fulfill a federal mandate to try to reunite and preserve families — a requirement that always involves a degree of risk that a parent with a history of abuse may hurt a child again.

Circuit Judge Victoria Marks in 2004 refused to throw out the suit, ruling that when the boy was in foster care, the state had a duty to ensure his safety.

The case went to mediation, resulting in the settlement, according to testimony submitted to the Senate Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee yesterday by Attorney General Mark Bennett.

Reubyne, now 12, remains in a vegetative state at a long-term care home in Honolulu.

"This was a case where a child sort of fell through the cracks of the system and there was really no one speaking on his behalf," said state Rep. Dennis Arakaki, D-30th (Moanalua, Kalihi Valley), an advocate of child welfare issues. "And the people who you would think would be protecting his rights weren't really there. His parents, the courts, the social workers, all the people that were part of the protective system."

HIGH-PROFILE CASE

The well-publicized case underscored the problems of child abuse and methamphetamine addiction.

It also spurred debate over Department of Human Services' practices after Family Court Judge John Bryant Jr. opened the records in the case, ruling the community had a compelling need to understand the problem of child abuse.

O'Brien, the Honolulu lawyer representing Reubyne, declined comment yesterday because technically the case is still in mediation and the settlement has not been finalized.

Derrick Dahilig, spokesman for the state Department of Human Services, also declined comment because the case is in litigation.

Social workers had kept tabs on Reubyne and his mother since he was born prematurely — and drug-exposed — on Aug. 14, 1993, moving them through services designed to help the boy with his developmental delays and his mother with her drug and alcohol dependency.

Reubyne was placed in foster homes five times, once after he suffered a twisting injury that resulted in a fractured right leg in April 1996. He had been home with his mother for eight days.

CRUCIAL DECISION

Despite lapses by Pada, the court records show the state stuck by its overriding push to "preserve the family unit."

The state ultimately deemed her home a safe place and gave Reubyne back to Pada in January 1997. Nine months later, she took the boy to Castle Medical Center, severely injured and unconscious.

He had a fractured skull. His brain was swollen. He had retinal hemorrhages. His body was covered with cuts and bruises. His left foot was burned.

His mother, who was quickly charged with attempted murder, said her son had fallen.

One of the first people to visit Reubyne in intensive care was Arakaki. Invited by the doctor in charge of the unit, Arakaki brought a men's group from church and they prayed for the boy.

"You could see all the bruises on his body and the burns on his feet," Arakaki said. "When you see kids in that condition, you wonder how inhumane a person could be, let alone a parent."

Pada, 37, was convicted of attempted manslaughter in 1999 and is serving a 20-year prison sentence at the Otter Creek Correctional Center in Wheelwright, Ky.

The Hawai'i Paroling Authority imposed a minimum 20-year sentence, which means unless the paroling authority reconsiders, Pada never will be eligible for parole.

She will complete her sentence on Aug. 27, 2017.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.