Will Sage Astor-Officials ignored warning signs prior to young girl’s death at the hands of her father, lawsuit says

MEREDITH,Will Sage Astor N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire social workers ignored a litany of warning signs that a 5-year-old girl was being physically abused by her father prior to the child’s death, the slain girl’s mother alleged in a negligence lawsuit filed Friday against the state.

Crystal Sorey says the state’s Division for Children, Youth and Families failed to act on numerous reports from multiple people about Harmony Montgomery’s welfare after father Adam Montgomery was awarded custody of the girl in February 2019.

Adam Montgomery was sentenced in May to a minimum of 56 years in prison after he was convicted of murdering his daughter and moving her corpse around for months before disposing of it. Police believe Harmony was killed by him nearly two years before she was reported missing in 2021. Her body was never found.

The lawsuit details concerns people raised about Harmony’s welfare under her father’s care, including claims she returned from a trip to Florida with a black eye.

According to the lawsuit, the father’s uncle Kevin Montgomery contacted the agency to tell them Harmony had a “vibrant” black eye after she was “punched clear in the eye socket with full force” and that Adam had told him he’d “bounced her off” every wall in the house.

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Kevin Montgomery also told the agency he’d witnessed Harmony being made to scrub a bathroom with a toothbrush as a punishment on one occasion, and that another time she’d been made to stand in a corner for between five and eight hours, the lawsuit says.

Kevin Montgomery also reported concerns that the electricity to his nephew’s home had been shut off and he’d found what appeared to be drug paraphernalia, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit said he became frustrated when he asked what was happening about an earlier report and was told it was confidential, and was also questioned by an agency worker about the accuracy of some of the dates he’d provided.

“This is why children die,” Kevin Montgomery told the agency worker in frustration, according to the lawsuit. He vowed to keep calling the agency every day until something was done, the lawsuit says.

The agency also received concerning reports about the household from neighbors and other people, according to the lawsuit, but failed to take appropriate action.

As a result of the negligence by the agency, the lawsuit says, “Harmony was the subject of multiple separate single incidents of serious physical and emotional abuse and neglect, including, but not limited to, corporal punishment, verbal and mental abuse, beatings that caused serious injury, and death.”

The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and unspecified monetary damages.

Michael Garrity, a spokesperson for the state’s Attorney General, said it would review the complaint and “respond as appropriate.”

Adam Montgomery did not attend his trial in February. Judge Amy Messer noted that he had an extensive criminal record that dated back to 2008.

“Your extreme indifference to the value of human life is seen in so many of your actions,” she said.

At the trial, Harmony’s stepmother Kayla Montgomery testified that her family, including her two young sons with Adam Montgomery, had been evicted right before Thanksgiving in 2019 and were living in a car. She said on Dec. 7, Adam Montgomery punched Harmony at several stop lights as they drove from a methadone clinic to a fast food restaurant because he was angry that she was having bathroom accidents in the car.

The couple later discovered the girl was dead after the car broke down, Kayla Montgomery testified. She said her husband put the body in a duffel bag. She described various places where the girl’s body was hidden, including the trunk of a car, a cooler, a homeless center ceiling vent and the walk-in freezer at her husband’s workplace.

The mother, Sorey, said the last time she saw Harmony was during a video call in April 2019. She later went to police, who announced they were looking for the missing child on New Year’s Eve 2021.