State approved renewal months before foster parent was charged with child sex assault, records show

Aug. 29—Graciano Lopez — the former Lincoln foster care parent and magic shop owner who has been charged with sexually assaulting children in his care — was relicensed earlier this year despite facing unrelated criminal charges in October 2020.

Lopez, too, was recommended for relicensing by the Cedars Home for Children after that agency completed a study on the 42-year-old's house in January, where police allege he repeatedly sexually assaulted at least two of his foster sons for several years.

One of Lopez's foster children told police that his first sexual encounter with the man came before he was ever placed in Lopez's care, according to an initial arrest affidavit. The other foster child told investigators he was assaulted by Lopez more than 30 times, according to court records.

The alleged assaults involving Lopez's foster children started in summer 2017 and stretched to March 2021, when one of the children contacted the state Department of Health and Human Service to report the ongoing assaults.

Over the same time frame, the 42-year-old remained in good standing with the agencies that placed the children in his care, emails and records obtained by the Journal Star via a public records request show.

"Was this foster parent getting the training that he was supposed to be getting? ... Was he getting that license?" asked Dr. John DeGarmo, a Georgia-based foster care consultant and the founder of the Foster Care Institute, in a phone interview with the Journal Star.

"There's a number of red flags for me that says this is one of those cases that could have been prevented by doing what caseworkers and agencies are supposed to be doing."

The investigation into Lopez began when his foster son contacted the DHHS hotline March 19 to report that he'd been sexually abused, Lincoln police announced in April.

Investigators interviewed and arrested Lopez on April 13 as police searched for additional victims.

In July, the Lancaster County Attorney's Office charged Lopez in cases involving five more boys between the ages of 11 and 15. Officer Erin Spilker said Lopez came in contact with some of the boys at Jolly Bean'sMagic Castle. At least one of the additional five boys had previously been placed in Lopez's care by the state, according to court filings.

Eight months before he was charged, as Lopez's 2020 reckless driving case was litigated — and the charge of disturbing the peace later dropped — a DHHS official noted in a November email that Lopez was "cordial and respectful" throughout a phone call.

Cedars officials, meanwhile, touted Lopez's voluntary enrollment in an anger management course as they lobbied DHHS to remove the hold that had been placed on Lopez's home in November due to his criminal charges, according to a December 2020 email. The boys who were in Lopez's care weren't removed as his case was litigated, but the state paused any additional placements, the emails show.

Less than a month after Lopez paid a court-ordered $500 fine relating to the reckless driving charge, Cedars recommended that Lopez be renewed as a single-parent foster care provider, allowed to house up to four children, emails show. The recommendation came after a home study, according to an email dated Jan. 11.

"Graciano has been cooperative in completing the relicensing process," Cedars Family Resource Partner Amy Schlueter said in the email to DHHS. "He enjoys having children placed in his home and expressed his desire to continue to provide foster care for children."

Graciano Lopez timeline

2016

May: Graciano Lopez completes his first recorded training session to become a single-parent foster care provider.

2020

October: Lopez is charged with reckless driving and disturbing the peace.

November: State places a hold on Lopez's foster care license, which bars additional placements.

December: Cedars urges HHS to remove hold on Lopez's license.

2021

January: After a home study, Cedars recommends renewing Lopez's license.

March 19: One of Lopez's foster children reports abuse to the state's hotline.

April 13: Lincoln Police Department interviews and arrests Lopez.

April 14: Cedars officially withdraws support from Lopez.

July: After further investigation, Lopez is charged with sexually assaulting as many as six teenage boys, including his foster son.

DHHS withheld findings from the January home study — along with 19 other documents relating to Lopez's foster care licensing from 2017 to March 2021 — citing various state statutes and HIPPA. Among the documents not provided to the Journal Star were compliance checklists from June 2020 and January 2021.

The findings and notes from Lopez's home study were also withheld from the records request, with DHHS citing state privacy statutes. Lopez was previously ordered to pay a $150 fine for disturbing the peace in 2010 and was charged in 1996 with felony burglary, though that charge was dismissed nine days after it was brought against the then-18-year-old.

"My questions are: 'Was this foster parent being visited once a month — at a minimum — by a caseworker?'" asked DeGarmo, who has fostered more than 40 children himself.

Records provided by DHHS show that Lopez had completed the mandatory 12 hours of department-approved in-service training in the year leading up to his license renewal application, though he hadn't completed courses on healthy sexual boundaries since December 2017, the records show.

Training on healthy sexual boundaries is not required but is offered. Foster parents are to complete a minimum number of overall training hours each year, possibly including car seat safety, for example.

Alger Studstill, the deputy director of protection and safety for the state's Division of Children and Family Services, declined to comment specifically on Lopez, citing ongoing court proceedings.

In an emailed response to general questions about the division's child safety protocols, Studstill said each licensed foster home is "supported by either a foster care agency or DHHS and the home's foster care support worker must make at least one contact monthly."

He said during monthly contacts, protocol requires that caseworkers "assess and discuss various topics with the child privately."

Cedars spokesperson Kristin Jakub declined to provide information or comment regarding Lopez, noting in an email that the organization "has been committed to the safety and protection of all children in our care" for more than 70 years.

The initial complaint lodged against Lopez, though, was fielded via the DHHS hotline. Cedars performed an internal assessment of the "critical incident" reported March 19, according to emails, though the organization's report was not among the documents provided to the Journal Star.

On April 14, the day after LPD interviewed and arrested Lopez, Cedars officially withdrew its support from Lopez in a letter to DHHS, records show. It's unclear how many children lived with Lopez at the time of the initial report and when they were removed from his care.

Lopez has been charged with two counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a protected person, seven counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child and one count of third-degree sexual assault of a child.

Lincoln police believe Lopez met some of the victims through the magic shop and a lawn care business he operated, where he employed teenage boys.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7223 or awegley@journalstar.com.

On Twitter @andrewwegley

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