SALEM, Ore. -- A 10-year-old boy with a history of fetal alcohol and drug syndrome, neglect, sexual abuse and mental illness was raped in March by another boy in a Salem foster home, a suit alleges.

KGW

The suit says state protective workers stipulated that the victim not be put in a foster home with other children, but he was placed with a family that had at least three other children.

The suit seeks $10.5 million and names as defendants an Oregon state agency, the nonprofit Catholic Community Services, and the foster parents, the Salem Statesman Journal reported.

The child is not identified, except by a pseudonym, in the suit.

The child's lawyer, James Shadduck of Salem, says authorities brought a criminal case in juvenile court against the 12-year-old attacker, also a foster child in state care because of abuse and neglect.

The suit said that, after the rape, the victim attempted to commit suicide.

"He had a lot of emotional issues before this because his mom was in prison for drug- and alcohol-related offenses and apparently there was sexual abuse early in his life," Shadduck said. "He wasn't exactly in the best of shape emotionally before this, and the events surrounding what happened have exacerbated it. He has a hard time communicating verbally."

The suit said state workers wanted him alone in a foster home because he was prone to lashing out, exposing himself and otherwise instigating instances in which he may create an environment that would invite sexual abuse and assault by other male children.

Shadduck said it appears the foster parents did not know about that requirement. "I think they still needed to maintain supervision and make sure the kid didn't get hurt and so forth," he said. "Those are different issues and responsibilities."

Officials at Catholic Community Services and the state attorney general's office declined to comment.