Child protective services supposedly investigated twice and found no signs of neglect or abuse. So, is it a problem with insufficient investigations? Did someone actually medically examine the children, talk to their pediatrician, interview the older child away from the mother, talk to neighbors?
I've heard of so many child protective services failures. I have to believe that they share the blame.
Just with many other cases where there was a mountain of evidence (besides witness statements) they do nothing.
Doing nothing has become the new normal - much like police at mass shootings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Gabriel_Fernandez
Throughout Fernandez's eight-month stay with his mother and Aguirre, multiple people reported signs of abuse to social workers with the
Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services and the
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. However, Fernandez was never removed from the household. This led to several concerns over the effectiveness and efficiency of social services in
Los Angeles County, and ultimately led to four social workers being criminally charged in
Los Angeles Superior Court.
Throughout his eight-month stay in the household of Pearl Fernandez and Isauro Aguirre, Gabriel Fernandez was systematically
abused and tortured. The abuse included regular physical beatings causing broken bones, being forced to eat
cat litter and feces, his own vomit, and spoiled or expired foods, being burned with cigarettes, being shot with a
BB gun in various areas of the body, including the face and groin, being
pepper-sprayed, being forced to wear women’s clothing, having to sleep bound and gagged in a small cupboard, and having his teeth knocked out with a bat.
[6] According to Fernandez's siblings, while Fernandez was being abused, his mother and stepfather would laugh.
[6] According to prosecutors, Aguirre was allegedly motivated to abuse Fernandez because he believed he was gay.
[7] The abuse and torture extended to Fernandez's siblings, except it was more directed towards Fernandez.
[8]
Social Workers[edit]
The social workers associated with the Gabriel Fernandez case were Stefanie Rodriguez and Patricia Clement.
[27] The other parties associated were their supervisors, Kevin Bom and Gregory Merritt.
[27]
The social workers were accused of neglecting Fernandez and falsifying public records.
[27] Calls regarding child abuse concerns began to occur between the years of 2012 and 2013.
[28] The first call came in from his teacher (Jennifer Garcia).
[29]
Jennifer Garcia’s concern started when Fernandez first asked her concerning questions regarding being whipped.
[29] Garcia reported her concerns to the child welfare hotline.
[29] Stephanie Rodriguez, a social worker, was assigned to Fernandez’s case.
[28] Garcia continued to see signs of child abuse such as a fat lip, pieces of hair missing. Gabriel also claimed that he had been shot in the face with a BB gun
[29] Garcia continued to call the child welfare hotline and was told each time that a social worker would check in on Fernandez.
[29] However, there was never a medical follow up and every time a social worker would go to Fernandez’s household, she never talked directly to Fernandez and would only talk to his mother.
[28]
According to legal scholar Charlotte Hinkamp, there was sufficient evidence of child abuse and it was surprising that the Department of Children and Family Services did not remove Fernandez from his home
[29]
The four social workers were charged with two different felonies: child abuse and falsifying public records.
[27] However, charges were dropped in 2020 as justices in the 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled that failure to uphold their duties and failure to remove Fernandez from his abusers did not constitute criminal liability for child abuse.
The social workers were later completely exonerated - found not guilty of anything.