LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) A California appeals court has thrown out criminal charges against four social workers in the torture and murder of 8-year-old Palmdale boy Gabriel Fernandez. Judge Lomeli denied an automatic motion to reduce the jurys recommendation of a death sentence for Aguirre to life in prison without the possibility of parole, citing the repeated beating, binding, burning and starving of Gabriel. Her 8-year-old son Gabriel fell and hit his head on a dresser, and now he wasn't breathing. Adding that the two should have better documented the escalating violence and lack of cooperation by the family. If found guilty, they will be among the first caseworkers from a child-welfare agency to go to prison for their lapses on the job. The charges against the four social workers will be dropped Thursday, the Los Angeles County district attorneys office said. Palmdale consistently ranked last on the list of places agency employees wanted to be. I live Coram Deo, he said. Social worker Gregory Merritt appears in The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez. This time, the students didnt laugh. In the end, it all added up to very high risk, meaning that the caseworkers had no choice but to promote the case for further attention. Gabriels grandmother told two sheriffs deputies that Pearl had a history of neglecting and abusing her children, but they didnt believe her. In California, the downturn in foster care began even before Logans death, and was steeper than the national one. Debates over child-protective services often scramble traditional political divisions, and Casey Family Programs, which has championed a number of progressive causes, had powerful political allies in religious conservatives, who pushed George W. Bushs administration to limit government intrusion on parental authority. But when she told Steve Reid, the caseworker who answered, about the belt buckle and the blood, he said, Okay. Each employee's information disclosed include the full name, department, position title, annual earnings and benefits, etc. For other inquiries, Contact Us. On April 26th, 2013 a security guard at the local welfare office, Arturo Martinez, noticed that Gabriel needed urgent help. His one solace was a mens group at church, where he felt he was able to make his case to a higher power. It will always be Gabriel's number. The trial of the former DCFS workers has been on hold for more than a year. Martinez asked Maricela Corona, the clerk Pearl had spoken to, if she planned to report child abuse. Garcia told Gabriel to tell other kids to mind their own business when they asked him what had happened. On Monday, November 26, Gabriel arrived late. On the rare occasion he went outside during recess, he stood alone on the playground and kicked a wall. Get email updates for new Licensed Clinical Social Worker jobs in Chevy Chase, MD. As long as human beings are involved in the child welfare program there are possibilities for mistakes to occur, he wrote. efore caseworkers can close an investigation, the agency requires them to use a software program called Structured Decision Making to score a childs risk of being abused or neglected. Its over now. But the operator wouldnt give her any information. Social workers Stefanie Rodriguez, 35 and Patricia Clement, 69, and supervisors Kevin Bom, 41, and Gregory Merritt, 64, had each been charged with one felony count of child abuse and one felony count of falsifying public records. They could have communicated with one another better, or pulled up the case history in the computer system. But the deputy director who oversees the region, Maryam Fatemi, told me she didnt think the trial was on staffers minds, partly because the high churn rate meant that many of them had joined the department after Gabriels death. He was on life support until May 24th, 2013. Gabriel froze. Aguirre pleaded not guilty, however, the jury found him guilty and recommended he be sentenced to death. Call or Email Stefanie Vitale now - (919) 374-4292. Children were interviewed alone in only two-thirds of cases. He was 8 years old, and the signs of abuse were obvious. I mean, everybody beats their kids. He called the number for nonemergencies and was later told that a sheriffs deputy had gone to Gabriels home but hadnt seen anything wrong. Rodriguez assured the teacher she would investigate, but matters got worse for Gabriel in November 2012. But a senior child-abuse prosecutor told me that if the victim is a child, a quick log entry will suffice. Unlike her colleagues, Starr never faced any administrative consequences or criminal charges. Various defense attorneys argued that the abuse and torture escalated months after a file on the boy had been closed and that there was insufficient evidence to take him away from his mother. Breaking news for Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties. Rodriguez visited the familys apartment, but again Gabriel recanted. The second best result is Stefanie Denise Rodriquez age 40s in Fort Worth, TX. "We need to stand up to fight. He asked her to put an A on the paper in the hope that his mother would be impressed. At the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, administrators had a well-worn routine they followed anytime a child died, or came close to dying, at the hands of a parent or guardiansomething that typically happened at least a couple of times a month. One, addressed to his mother, said, I love you so much that I will die. Others stated he wanted to kill himself. The series tracks what happened to eight-year-old Gabriel and the subsequent murder trial of his mother Pearl Fernandez and her partner, Isauro Aguirre. He called 911, but his situation was not an emergency. Rodriguez returned her call the following day andallegedly said was assigned to the case and would investigate. Rodriguez made no entry of this call. Mind your own business. Two years before Gabriel was born, Pearl was investigated after she and Gabriels older brother were in a car accident where her son suffered a head injury because he wasnt wearing his seatbelt. Whether he tried or even had time to follow up on this claim is unknown. Cat feces had been forced down his throat. (During this period, foster care was in such short supply that DCFS routinely used a conference room to house children overnight.) For Jennifer Garcia, the 201213 school year was off to a disappointing start. The least popular job in this least desirable place was also the most difficult and most important: child-abuse investigator. In 2003, the Los Angeles County board of supervisors selected a child-welfare administrator named David Sanders, who led an aggressive push to reduce the foster-care rolls. Speaking to The Atlantic, Rodriguez explained that during the time she supervised Gabriels welfare, other children in her caseload seemed to her to be in equal or greater danger.. Prosecutors say that the four minimized evidence of abuse and violated multiple policies, reporting that safety programs at Gabriel's home were working at the time abuse was escalating. Social Work Intern Sarah Vretas, M.A., LPC Clinical Fellow Mariah Willis, B.A., CT Clinical Counseling Intern Counseling and Consultation Service - Office of Student Life CCS Main Office: Younkin Success Center (4th Floor), 1640 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43201 . The practitioner's primary taxonomy code is 1041C0700X with license number P014141 (NC). Well, yeah, she told him, recalling that she herself had been spanked as a child. Pearl rushed out of the office with her children, blocking Martinez view of Gabriel as she did. Clement and Merritt then became involved in the case. This information is according to Los Angeles County payrolls for the 2013 fiscal . Strictly star bags life-changing EastEnders role as part of new family, Baby's body found after huge search as cops quiz Constance Marten & lover, Bianca Gascoigne reveals very unusual name for her newborn daughter, I took pic of son, 18, before his first night out then the worst thing happened, News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. After all, Kate was mysteriously absent from the season three finale fast-forward scene and Toby seemed hesitant . Shed spent the summer preparing to teach fourth grade at Palm Tree Elementary, in the high-desert town of Palmdale, north of Los Angeles. I learned early on that if Im gonna be any good to my clients, I have to take care of myself, Merritt said. Prosecutors had granted immunity to a caseworker and a therapist, in exchange for their testimony against Merritt and the other defendants. Dixon and Hathaway-Sycamores also handled the very similar case in 2018 when 10-year-old Anthony Avalos died after his mother and her boyfriend abused him. That same year, Casey declared a new central goal: to reduce the number of children in foster care by half by 2020. County Pension (Defined Benefits) Contributions. But the Palmdale branch couldnt afford to be picky. Merritt started going back through the notes on his computer, and saw that Gabriels first-grade teacher had, in fact, regularly called one of Merritts colleaguesa young caseworker named Stefanie Rodriguezwith disturbing reports. But this didnt strike Merritt as particularly unusual or alarminghe remembered a child even younger who had made actual suicide attempts. Over the years, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services has taken significant steps to mitigate risk and improve our capacity countywide in order to best serve vulnerable children and families and as a department we remain committed to ensuring that reform continues. Let me stop you there. Our client, Appcast, is seeking the following. The seriousness of the charges appeared to concern the panel. Payments for Straight and Premium Overtime. On February 26th 2020, Netflix released a documentary called The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez. Both were soon fired from the department, as were their supervisors, Gregory Merritt and Kevin Bom. He finally admitted that Pearl shot him in the face with a BB gun. We were on a desert island, and we were just sinking, sinking, sinking., Like Merritt, Starr is a devout Christian. We have been six years fighting this battle," says the boy's cousin Olivia Rubio. Villar also stated that the defendants should have documented Gabriel Fernandezs injuries and that their actions were incompatible with the proper regard for human life.. Nor did she ever interview Gabriel or his siblings alone, as is required by department policy because many children who fear additional abuse recant their stories if the perpetrator is present. Due to the amount of injuries to his body, the autopsy took two days. He came to school with scratches, a split lip, and a swollen bruised face. Check for a confirmation email, and then you're all set with MyNewsLA.com! When Garcia first met the boy, in the schools front office, she noticed that Pearl and Aguirre werent like the other first-grade parents, who hovered over their children, crouching down to guide them through introductions or to explain how to get lunch. Two social workers, Stefanie Rodriguez and Patricia Clement, as well as two of their supervisors, Kevin Bom and Gregory Merritt, were each charged with one felony count of child abuse and falsifying public records. Gabriel was absent the next day, and when he returned on Wednesday his hair was styled into a mohawk, which seemed normal enough. The question today is whether the felony counts against four social workers will be dismissed, reduced or stand. Garcia testified she repeatedly reported suspected abuse to social workers who failed to prevent his death. She became a caseworker in her 50s, after spending much of her career as a counselor at the church where her husband was a pastor. Unprecedented charges against L.A. County social workers were filed following the death of 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez. First Call Made Six Months Before Gabriel's Death This one guy was talking to himself all the time. Merritt assumed he was mentally ill. But of that 60%, 37% reported losing money and 21% said their relationship with the borrower was harmed. I got light-headed, she said. County Payment of Employees' Retirement Contributions. Stefanie Rico, Registered Social Worker, Toronto, ON, M4V, (647) 492-8197, Stefanie works with youth and adults experiencing diverse mental health needs, most often supporting individuals in the . During the seven months when caseworkers were ostensibly watching over Gabriel, evidence of his abuse steadily accumulated. Pearl Fernandez admitted that shed hit him with the belt. This dataset includes compensation information of about one hundred thousands employees working in Los Angeles County, provided by the Auditor-Controller office of Los Angeles County as required by public disclosure laws. This time, Garcia didnt ask what had happened. Stefanie Rodriguez in Texas. The county medical examiner who performed his autopsy told the grand jury that he had never witnessed so many skin injuries on a child. Meanwhile, the rate of child abuse remained steady during that period; according to a Yale study, at least one out of eight American children will be abused by age 18. Evidence at trial indicated months of beatings and torture. Garcia asked Gabriel if he wanted to take part in that days assignment or not, which was making a Mothers Day card. In 2017, social workers Stefanie Rodriguez, Patricia Clement, and supervisors Kevin Bom and Gregory Merritt, were charged with child abuse and falsifying public records. During their trials, it came to light that Isuaro Aguirre forced Gabriel to eat spoiled food and cat feces as well as his own vomit, and locked him in a cabinet with a sock in his mouth and handcuffs around his ankles to sleep. We processed them for discharge, he said. Stefanie is related to Victor Rodriquez and Sylvia Rodriguez as well as 1 additional person. Sleeping Pods. Children's Social Worker (CSW) The representative who works with the family who is in receiving services from the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). Have a seat. Then he admonished her, We dont investigate. Gabriel has a black eye, there were lumps on the back of his head, and his skin was almost yellow. . To fill it, the department required new recruits to start thereincluding Stefanie Rodriguez, who sat in a cubicle within earshot of Merritt. News coverage of child fatalities has often been a catalyst for a renewed focus on safety: When a child dies at the hands of a guardian, an outraged public will demand more proactive interventions to prevent such a tragedy. Other defendants nonemergencies and was steeper than the national one to concern the panel losing money and %... 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