Finally, Corona slipped him the familys name and contact information, urging Martinez to save this kid. He called the Department of Children and Family Services twice but got lost in the automated system and hung up. He is currently awaiting execution in San Quentin State Prison. vs. LA County, Scalp, Face, Neck, Ears and Shoulder Injuries Documented at Trial (diagam). In DCFSs Palmdale office, people liked to joke: Its not the end of the world, but you can see it from here. High-ranking administrators from headquarters in Los Angeles rarely made the long drive through the hills and canyons up to this community on the edge of the Mojave Desert, where buzzards circle and dust storms penetrate homes with a layer of grit that no amount of vigilance can keep out. He was able to find only sporadic work, stocking beer at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds. White House Farm killer played badminton and drew models in prison. But the program worried Philip Browning, whod become the head of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services in 2011. It's time to end gun violence now. They turned to the tools they used regularly on him: a BB gun, pepper spray, coat hangers, and a wooden baseball bat. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express. They were informed of suicide notes written by Gabriel but they took no additional action. Pearl rushed out of the office with her children, blocking Martinez view of Gabriel as she did. They acted in a way that was incompatible with the proper regard for human life. Later this year, a jury will reach its own conclusions. City News Service contributed to this report. We further conclude that the petitioners were not officers within the meaning of Government Code section 6200. . I wanted to go there and hold his hand and say, Youre going to be okay. Patricia Clement and Stefanie Rodriguez were discovered to be two of the social workers who had neglected their responsibility. Claim your profile Get in touch with Stefanie. Yet, despite the obvious and visible signs of abuse, documentation by both Rodriguez and Clement downplayed the injuries. The seriousness of the charges appeared to concern the panel. ), First published on January 7, 2020 / 5:43 AM. The psychologist replied that there were no services available and provided a brochure that Garcia could send to Gabriels mother on how to cope with behavioral problems. They just couldnt wrap their heads around it, she told me. 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. His one solace was a mens group at church, where he felt he was able to make his case to a higher power. Her caseload included up to 40 children at a time. SOURCES: The Atlantic | LA Times 1 | LA times 2 | LA Times 3 | LA Daily News | Oprah Magazine | NBC LA | ABC | Bom et al. Administrators admit that prioritizing one of these goals over the other is a false choicetheyre supposed to be able to protect children in danger without unnecessarily splitting up families. She saw the anger swell inside him. RELATED: DCFS asks for public's help amid sharp drop in possible child abuse reports, Brunt of storm moving out of SoCal on Wednesday; showers will linger, Children jump for joy at seeing snow flurries in Canyon Country, RFK assassin Sirhan Sirhan is denied parole for 16th time. Multiple calls had been made to the child-abuse hotline, but a caseworker ended the investigation after Anthony recanted his claims of abuse. The law requires all reports to go through the hotline, the lawyer noted. Later investigations revealed Rodriguez had never received information which showed Pearl Rodriguez had abused and neglected her other children. An investigation into the eight-month period leading up to his death discovered that his mother doused him with pepper spray, locked him in a closet with a sock forced in his mouth, and forced him to eat his own vomit. In an 2-1 opinion, the panel concluded that there was no probable cause to hold the two social workers and their supervisors on charges of child abuse and falsifying documents. The second best result is Stefanie Denise Rodriquez age 40s in Fort Worth, TX. Due to confidentiality rules, Rodriguez could say nothing. Red flags were everywhere, she said. This button displays the currently selected search type. We further conclude that the petitioners were not officers within the meaning of Government Code section 6200, wrote Justice Francis Rothschild. Rodriguez made no entry of this call. It will always be Gabriel's number. Director Brian Knappenberger documents the investigation into the months of abuse preceding his murder as well as the trial against his mother and her boyfriend. Cigarette burns covered his feet and genitals. View Stefanie Rodriguez's business profile as Global Manager, Accounting at ALM. Get notified about new Licensed Clinical Social Worker jobs in Chevy Chase, MD. First responders noted that every single inch of his body had signs of abuse. The four had been held to answer charges of felony abuse in a preliminary hearing, but in the appeal their attorneys argued that there was insufficient evidence of criminal wrongdoing. Find contact's direct phone number, email address, work history, and more. It was meant to be used for lower-risk cases, but a later review found that the department was taking chances on parents who would not have been eligible for family-preservation services had their cases reached the courts. Gabriel at School Just Before Mother's Day. It was Gabriel. In a 2-1 opinion, the panel concluded that there was no probable cause to hold the four on charges of child abuse and falsifying documents. The prevalence of bone fractures, brain bleeds, and other injuries linked to caregivers showed that beatings were a recurring aspect of family life in many homes. Stefanie Guerrero is a provider established in Raleigh, North Carolina and her medical specialization is Social Worker with a focus in clinical . Once again, Rodriguez and Bom decided not to remove him or order a medical exam. Gabriel moved in with his mother and her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, as well as two siblings: an 11-year-old brother named Ezequiel and a 9-year-old sister, Virginia. After the death of Gabriel Fernandez, LAC DCFS terminated four social workers for their failure to help him. I tried to feel his heart, Aguirre said, and nothing is moving.. The department was using it on parents who werent eligible instead of only low risk cases as intended. Check social media profiles, places of employment, resumes and CV, work history, photos and videos, arrest records, news, business records and publications . HBO 2020 release schedule: Whats new on HBO in March 2020? Executive Business Partner at Lyft . (This policy was changed in 2011, allowing social workers to use their professional judgment to determine how many witnesses were necessary.). Bom declined to comment for this article. Name. Hed been living with his maternal grandparents, with whom he was close, but his mother, Pearl Fernandez, wanted Gabriels welfare benefits, so she brought him to live with her for the first time in his life, over his grandparents strenuous objections. Suddenly, Pearl wanted custody back in October 2012. She trusts that if she stays grounded and listens to her instincts and follows the departments rules and processes, she wont ever need to confront the details of Gabriels case or another like it. Clement had filed for bankruptcy. We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. Have a seat. Then he admonished her, We dont investigate. But Pearl noticed Martinez studying her son and abruptly grabbed Gabriel and his siblings and left, blocking Martinezs view of Gabriel on the way out. BB pellets pockmarked his skin. All rights reserved. Express. 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. Gabriel was either tardy or absent a lot. The woman they knew was profane, ill-tempered, and prone to yelling at clients. The term battered-child syndrome entered the national lexicon. This created a financial incentive to reduce the use of foster care. There is, therefore, no probable cause to hold them on charges of violating those laws and the trial court should have granted the motions to dismiss.. On the rare days when Gabriel came to class, she told him to be good and never give his mother a reason to get angry. Rodriguez visited the familys apartment, but again Gabriel recanted. The practitioner's primary taxonomy code is 1041C0700X with license number P014141 (NC). Stefanie Rodriguez in Texas. Almost three years had passed since Gabriels death, and many people had all but forgotten that a criminal review was under way. This time, Garcia didnt ask what had happened. Unprecedented charges against L.A. County social workers were filed following the death of 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez. Gabriel Fernandez: Is Gabriel Fernandezs killer still alive? As Children'S Social Worker at Los Angeles County, STEFANIE A RODRIGUEZ made $49,663 in total compensation. Corona said she wanted to help but was only filling in. Breaking news for Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties. This time she reached her, and pressed her about what she was doing: How did Pearl Fernandez explain the injuries? Merritt, one of the. Username. Business . It destroyed my life.. The 2nd District Court of Appeal advised that the lower court dismiss the charges against the social workers. Still, Pearl received custody of Gabriel. Later that month, Gabriels case was closed. drop in the number of children in foster care, The Still-Harrowing Extent of Child Abuse and Neglect, In a Year, Child-Protective Services Checked Up on 3.2 Million Children, When the State Takes Kids Away From Parents: Three Perspectives. Prosecutors had granted immunity to a caseworker and a therapist, in exchange for their testimony against Merritt and the other defendants. However, his girlfriend, now wife, Stephanie Sanger, announced their marriage in a post on her Facebook page, which has since been deleted. stefanie rodriguez social worker nownyproduktion mlnlycke. - nbcnews.com. This time, the students didnt laugh. [INFO]. Please exercise caution when reading this, as there are accounts of very brutal abuse amounting to torture and a child victim. Apply via Dice today! The other children were silent. On November 26th, 2012 Gabriel showed up to class late. Dice ( Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. But many of the children in his caseload had that designation. If. On May 22, Pearl and Aguirre tortured Gabriel a final time. In a video shared to the Dillard family's. A motion to appeal the 2nd District Court of Appeals decision was denied in January 2020. students of physics. Evidence at trial indicated months of beatings and torture. On May 23, 2013, this grim assembly line paused at Greg Merritts cubicle in the Palmdale branch office. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office had filed the charges of child abuse and falsifying records against social workers Stefanie Rodrigez, 35, and Patricia Clement, 59, as well as . Gabriel Fernandez: What happened to Gabriel Fernandezs parents? There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. (During this period, foster care was in such short supply that DCFS routinely used a conference room to house children overnight.) Adding that the two should have better documented the escalating violence and lack of cooperation by the family. She reported that Gabriels face and hands had bruises from strikes with a belt buckle. He asked her to put an A on the paper in the hope that his mother would be impressed. In just a few days, she would be teaching first grade in Room 5 at Summerwind Elementary, four miles away. 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. So what? Buy, sell, and rent smarter with Stefanie Rodriguez at Compass. Gabriels mother, Pearl, was already known to the authorities following previous child abuse-related incidents. Deputies Arrest Armed Suspect After Barricading in Car, Man Convicted of Nearly Deadly Shooting in Santa Ana Motel, Riverside Paves the Way for Cannabis Vendors to Open Their Doors Citywide, More Rain, Snow Hit Drenched Southern California, Drunk Driver Convicted of Fatal Collision in Orange, Firefighters Spend 5 Hours Battling Blaze in Laguna Hills, Hilltop Home Evacuated in Beverly Crest Area Due to Mud, Debris Flow, SoCalGas Says Relief's On Way from Sky-High Bills, Man Suspected of Molesting Elsinore Girl Arrested, LA County Requests Report on Local Train Derailment Readiness, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. But the pressures of the job, she said, pushed her out anywayshe went on extended medical leave and eventually agreed to retire. The announcement that they faced criminal charges had come as a shock. Ultimately, the social workers Stefanie Rodriguez, 34, and Patricia Clement, 69, and two supervisors, Kevin Bom, 40, and Gregory Merritt, 64, all faced charges in connection with the death of Gabriel, with prosecutors alleging they minimized evidence of Gabriel's abuse. As we sat in her living room, she told me that working for Merritt had made the job tolerable; he always had her back, and would encourage her to take a lunch break or work from home when he sensed that the pressures of the job were getting to her. But a senior child-abuse prosecutor told me that if the victim is a child, a quick log entry will suffice. Then administrators would go to work producing a confidential report and a set of reformsmeasures that would allow them to claim they had taken steps to ensure that such a tragedy would never happen again. We processed them for discharge, he said. She returned a few minutes later, saying she had been ordered not to get involved. His teacher testified that she called Rodriguez multiple times to report that Gabriel told her that his mother punched him and shot him in the face with a BB gun. "Allowing a social worker to evade liability for falsifying a public document would incentivize social workers to put their own interests in avoiding liability for their misdeeds above the purpose of the state's child welfare statutory scheme, which is child safety," Chaney wrote in her concurring and dissenting opinion. Sadly, Gabriel Fernandez was subjected to months of brutal torture at the hands of his mother Pearl and her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre. In July 2015, according to Los Angeles Times, prosecutors looked into giving both Fernandez and Aguirre the death penalty to repent for their horrific actions. Every employment contract between a state or local agency and any public official or public employee is a public record which is not subject to the provisions of the law. The program allowed children to remain in the home while the family worked to resolve their issues. In September 2018, Superior Court Judge George G. Lomeli denied a motion to dismiss the charges, calling the young Palmdale boys death foreseeable.. In her notes, she reported that shed observed the children to be appropriately dressed, visibly healthy, and did not have any marks or bruises., The following week, Garcia made multiple calls about Gabriels haircut and busted lip. Stephanie Rodriguez. Gabriel, he later testified, turned around and made eye contact with me and I noticed he had a greenish-bluish eyea black eyeand lumps on the back of his head. The trial of the former DCFS workers has been on hold for more than a year. 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. 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. His older brother Ezequiel would try to sneak bananas through the padlocked door. On March 28, an arrest warrant was issued for Stefanie Rodriquez, Patricia Clement, Kevin Bom, and Gregory Merritt. He was supposed to read the entire file first, but he hadnt gotten to it. One day, he stole Garcias iPod and took it to his mom, trying to please her. During the seven months when caseworkers were ostensibly watching over Gabriel, evidence of his abuse steadily accumulated. Browning believed the field of child-abuse prevention needed a set of reforms similar to those that had been introduced throughout the country to better address domestic violence of romantic partnerssuch as mandatory-arrest laws, which require police officers to arrest an alleged perpetrator whenever there is probable cause, regardless of the victims wishes, and no drop prosecution policies, which mandate the prosecution of domestic-violence perpetrators whether or not their victims want to press charges. Never received information which showed Pearl Rodriguez had never received information which showed Pearl Rodriguez had never information. L.A. 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