Butler County is being sued in federal court for a Children and Youth Services caseworker allegedly placing a Butler girl in the care of the employee’s relative, a Rimersburg man, who is now charged with raping that child.

Under the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, the alleged victim’s mother is suing Butler County, Butler CYS caseworker Jennifer Olexsak, Thomas Eugene Curry, 65, and his wife Pamela Curry.

The lawsuit alleges Olexsak abused her position by placing the child with Thomas Curry, who is related to Olexsak.

Curry, 65, is accused of raping the girl, who was 10 at the time, in his Clarion County home numerous times in 2009 and 2010. He faces 1,981 charges in that county. The charges came after the alleged victim came forward in 2014.

A complete report appears in Friday’s Butler Eagle.