For three and a half years, a twin brother and sister living with foster parents Wayne and Rosella Keeny were taken to the basement of their Lancaster County home, told to lie down on a freezer, and were beaten either by hand or with household objects, lawyers for the children said.

A lawsuit against the foster parents, the agency that placed the children with them, and the Defender Association of Philadelphia—tasked with safeguarding the children’s interests in court—resulted in a $4.5 million verdict by a Philadelphia jury, which a Pennsylvania appeals court has now affirmed, rejecting the argument from the Defender Association that it is immune from liability.