Associated Presshttp://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ia-dhslawsuit,0,4574935.story

5:22 p.m. CST, January 6, 2010

GUERNSEY, Iowa - A Johnson County woman is suing the Iowa Department of Human Services for placing her 5-year-old daughter in foster care based on a false allegation.
In the lawsuit filed Tuesday, 20-year-old Jessica Wilbur of Guernsey contends DHS staff placed her child in foster care based on document signed by the child's noncustodial father, Robert Nino, a convicted sex offender.
Nino reportedly took the girl for a weekend visit, did not return her, and filed a false sexual abuse complaint against Wilbur. Nino then signed a voluntary foster care placement agreement, and the child spent two weeks in foster care.
The abuse allegation was deemed to be false, but Wilbur's attorney says the department refused to return the child until after an article about the case ran in The (Cedar Rapids) Gazette.
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Information from: The Gazette,http://www.gazetteonline.com/