The mother of a 7-year-old girl who suffered lead poisoning is suing her former landlord, claiming he did nothing about the lead-based paint he knew existed in her Southwest Roanoke home.

Frank Roupas was named in a $2.35 million lawsuit filed Thursday in Roanoke Circuit Court.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Destiny Lambert, who was exposed to high levels of lead while living as a 1-year-old at 1018 Patterson Ave. S.W. from January through June of 2002.

The child's mother, Sandra Lambert, said Roupas knew of the dangers in the home.

"I asked him plain and simple," Lambert said. "And he said, 'Oh, no, no, no; there's no lead in here.' But come to find out, there was."

Roupas said Thursday that he gave Lambert a pamphlet warning of the danger of lead paint, which remains present in some older homes. He said he suspects Destiny might have inhaled dust that was generated when the Lamberts scraped the house's windows and walls before painting.

"I did everything in my power to control the situation," Roupas said.

Lauren Ellerman, a Roanoke attorney who filed the lawsuit, said the full extent of Destiny's injuries will not be determined until additional medical tests are done. But the level of lead poisoning she suffered was close to life-threatening, Ellerman said.

The lawsuit states that Destiny has sustained "severe and permanent lead-related injuries that she will be forced to endure for the rest of her life."

In October, Roupas agreed to pay a $4,000 penalty to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to disclose lead-paint hazards to his tenants, including those who lived in the Patterson Avenue home where Destiny was poisoned.