Family sues suspect, Wood County agricultural society & fair board

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (WTVG) - A civil lawsuit has now been filed against the Wood County Agricultural Society and the county Fair Foundation.

The lawsuit centers around a former board member who is criminally charged with more than a dozen counts of misconduct with kids. The family of one of the alleged victims believes that fair and 4H officials should have known what was happening.

The I-TEAM spoke with the mother of one of the alleged victims in this case. She said she doesn’t want another family going through the same ordeal.

This family thought 4H through the Wood County Fair board would be enriching for their child, but now, with the criminal charges against former senior fair board member Brock Abke, the family filing this civil suit feels otherwise.

“As a parent, it’s really the last thing you ever expect to have to deal with,” according to the mother of the child.

We are concealing the identity of this family with a minor involved.

They’ve filed suit against Abke and the agricultural society and fair foundation. The suit says, among other allegations, the AG Society had a duty to safeguard the children and failed to supervise Abke, breaching their duty to protect kids.

“I did not have any red flags. Not at all until I was looking at his phone this summer and found something suspicious,” that parent said.

A Wood County grand jury indicted Abke on 13 criminal charges last year, allegedly involving three separate kids. This family hopes this suit could encourage more people to report allegations if they too know anything.

“I really encourage that person because it’s only going to help those moving forward. We cannot tolerate this as parents. This is unacceptable,” that parent said.

The suit requested damages in excess of $25,000. The I-TEAM reached out to the Agricultural Society, but has not heard back yet.

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