A lawyer says Washington state has agreed to pay $3 million to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of two young sisters who were repeatedly raped by their maternal grandfather after they were placed with him in foster care.

The Seattle Times reports the girls were taken from their mother because of abuse allegations in 2004 and moved through several foster homes before they were placed in their grandfather's Tacoma home in 2007.

The Times says after a criminal investigation began in 2010, the 61-year-old grandfather was convicted of multiple counts of first-degree child rape and first-degree child molestation and sentenced to 50 years in prison.

The lawsuit alleged the state Department of Social and Health Services failed to properly investigate the man.

Lawyer Lincoln Beauregard says the state recently agreed to pay $1.5 million to each girl. He says they have been placed together in a "fantastic foster home."