WARNING: This story contains information that is graphic in nature and could be disturbing to some.
A heartbroken mother says the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families killed her adult daughter.
Cheryl Gaulin blames the DCF for the death of her daughter, Kristine, last year, as well as and the state-licensed foster home she was in as a child.
"They killed my daughter is what they did," Gaulin said. "If it wasn't for them, Kristine would be alive today."
Get New England news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NECN newsletters.
Kristine was a loving mother of two young girls, but Gaulin says she was never able to overcome the trauma of the horrific abuse she suffered as a child decades ago inside the state licensed foster home of Ray and Susan Blouin.
She was placed in that foster home when she just was two weeks old and struggled her entire life to overcome the abuse and trauma she suffered as a child there, Gaulin said.
"Kristine was abused in every way possible," she said. "Sexually, physically, mentally, verbally, emotionally. You don't take kids in unless you want to take care of them and nurture and love them, especially at 2 weeks old. The state failed, there were so many warning signs."
Court records, police reports and DCF records obtained by the NBC10 Boston Investigators document a trail of abuse of foster children inside the walls of the Blouins' home and red flags missed and ignored by DCF.
Kristine is one of the dozens of foster kids the DCF cycled through the Blouins' home over the years.
John Williams lived with the Blouins during the same time as Kristine until he ran away in 2004.
"We went through a dehumanizing situation," he said. "We were strangled, tortured. We were put in dog cages."
Kristine was 15 years old when she ran away from the Blouins' home, and Gaulin and her husband opened their home to raise her. Gaulin said she came to them with only one photo of her entire childhood and traumatic memories.
Her foster father, Ray Blouin, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting her in 2003. Blouin's daughter was also accused of molesting Kristine and charged as a juvenile, but those charges were ultimately dismissed.
Gaulin says the Blouins took away Kristine's life, trust and confidence.
"She was never loved," Gaulin said.
Ray Blouin moved out of the home and registered as a sex offender, but the DCF left children in the Blouins' home despite the conviction and charges and substantiated reports of abuse.
Kristine struggled with substance use disorder for years, but was back on track working at a nursing home when she overdosed and died at the age of 35 last October after using cocaine laced with fentanyl.
She was one of four former foster children who filed a civil suit against the DCF and the social workers involved in her case. That suit resulted in a historic $7 million settlement last month.
"They finally killed her. She was found on a hill all by herself. It was one of the hardest days of my life," said Gaulin.
A spokesperson for the DCF referred us to a previous statement saying there's nothing that can remedy the trauma endured by the children who were in the Blouins' home.
Susan and Ray Blouin and Phil Paquette, who also lived in the home, have criminal cases pending. They've entered not guilty pleas.
