In September 2018, Superior Court Judge George G. Lomeli denied a motion to dismiss the charges, calling the young Palmdale boys death foreseeable.. 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. He had broken ribs. Pearl Sinthia Fernandez was sentenced to life in prison without parole after pleading to first-degree murder and admitting the torture allegation. Track SoCal rain with LIVE Megadoppler 7000 HD, DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES. People there told me over and over that they didnt think about Gabriels case and didnt even know much about itthey werent sure exactly what had happened or what mistakes had been made. Le Norgant informed social worker Patricia Clement and Palmdales LAC DCFS supervisor Greg Merritt. 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. But Merritt was proud of his work, especially his efforts to keep together families that might otherwise be separated. Garcia felt reassured; the agency seemed to be taking the matter seriously. Garcia thought they seemed hardened and meanpossibly dangerous. On November 26th, 2012 Gabriel showed up to class late. 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. Hed whisper in Gabriels ear to fall to the ground quickly when he hit him. 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. So what? Yet, he remained in the custody of his mother, Pearl Fernandez, 33, and then-boyfriend Isauro Aguirre, 36, until his death on May 24, 2013. Gabriel suffered a fractured skull, broken ribs, a broken nose, and many missing teeth. Gabriel died in May 2013 and his mother and her boyfriend were later convicted of torturing and murdering him. 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 . Once, when another student was struggling with a reading assignment, Gabriel jumped in to help her, pushing her to take another look and keeping her well after the other kids finished. One judge asked, "Were there any other charges that you could have brought?". (Hons.) Authorities later determined that his mother and her boyfriend had tortured him for at least five days. The next day, Pearl Fernandezs attorneys proposed a deal to accept life in prison without the possibility of parole or appeal if the prosecution would agree to drop its push for the death penalty. Prosecutors argued that only Merritt and Clement asserted that they were not officers, but the panel chose to apply the same standard to all four defendants, arguing that there was no reason to apply the law differently. 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. There are no safety or risks [sic] to the childrens welfare at this time. Her recommendation: Close the case.. Clement and Merritt then became involved in the case. They have also lived in Springtown, TX and Bridgeport, TX. They each faced up to ten years in prison if found guilty. 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 . Payments for Straight and Premium Overtime. Martinez approached the window where Pearl had been talking with a clerk, Maricela Corona, to ask whether she was going to report Pearl to the authorities. The District Attorney may appeal this decision. More at IMDbPro Contact Info: View agent, publicist, legal on IMDbPro. Fernandez is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Stefanie Rodriguez was the first person who looked into Gabriel's case, when his teacher put in a call about the possibility of Pearl beating Gabriel at home, for his in-school behavior. They additionally contend that supervisors Bomand Meritt knew or should have known that the reports were false as they contradicted physical evidence of Gabriels deteriorating physical health. His classmates laughed and pointed when they saw him. Overall employment of social workers is projected to grow 9 percent from 2021 to 2031, faster than the average for all occupations. 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 . Social workers Stephanie Rodriguez and Patricia Clement visited the Fernandez family home on multiple occasions but both workers claimed they never saw signs of abuse that would require Gabriel to be moved out of the family home. In 2016, Stefanie Rodriguez and Patricia Clement, two former LA County social workers, as well as two supervisors, Kevin Bom and Gregory Merritt, were charged with one felony count each of child abuse and falsifying public records. Please contact the developer of this form processor to improve this message. She turned the conversation back to Gabriel. Their case marks one of the few times social worked have been charged in a child abuse case in the US. I learned early on that if Im gonna be any good to my clients, I have to take care of myself, Merritt said. On February 27th, 2013 therapist Carmen Le Norgant discussed with Pearl suicide notes Gabriel had written. When the charges were announced, Browning made a statement describing Gabriels case as an isolated incident and describing the four defendants as outliers whose actions shouldnt reflect on the department as a whole. Garcia says her interactions with Rodriguez began shortlyafter she suspected Gabriels mother was physically retaliating against him for his in-school misbehavior. Social workers Stefanie Rodriguez and Patricia Clement, as well as their supervisors, Kevin Bom and Gregory Merritt, were each charged with one felony count of child abuse and one felony. Evidence at trial indicated months of beatings and torture. Sign up here for our free newsletters. The jurors deliberated for five hours before finding Aguirre guilty of torture and murder. Caseworkers were told to focus on services versus surveillance and to label a parent as being in need of services/support rather than as a perpetrator. The caseworkers and their supervisors would be the decision makers on any interventionno judge would second-guess them, and no lawyers would be appointed to argue for the best interests of the children. At recess someone lent him a baggy boys shirt to cover himself. Garcia asked Gabriel if he wanted to take part in that days assignment or not, which was making a Mothers Day card. The law requires all reports to go through the hotline, the lawyer noted. In January 2020 California 2nd District Court of Appeals threw out the charges against the four former social workers. She delivered her testimony with plaintive wails and required frequent recesses to gather herself. NEW social workers in the case of Gabriel Fernandez came under investigation after the child died at the hands of his mother and her boyfriend. Social workers Stefanie Rodriguez, Patricia Clement, Kevin Bom and Gregory Merritt were ordered today to stand trial on falsifying records and child abuse charges involving the death of Gabriel Fernandez, an 8-year-old Palmdale boy who died in 2013 after prolonged child abuse. She coached him: My mom cut it like that. Stefanie Rodriguez Found 287 people in California, New York and 39 other states View contact information: phones, addresses, emails and networks. Some of Merritts colleagues were so ashamed of the departments reputation that they avoided telling people what they did for a living. I probably would have lost my kids, she said, because I spanked them good. The filing followed the Palmdale boys death in May 2013 from a beating by his mothers boyfriend and reports of months of torture prior to that. The young boy had been regularly abused by both parties until one day, he was beaten to the brink of death. They did ask Pearl and Isauro to take a drug test after the Red Ribbon Week incident, but the results were negative. Patricia Clement and Stefanie Rodriguez were discovered to be two of the social workers who had neglected their responsibility. Pearl herself had suffered abuse as a child, giving the family another two points. Inside, fluorescent bulbs threw a dull yellow light across the courtroom. But many of the children in his caseload had that designation. 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. The seriousness of the charges appeared to concern the panel. But the program worried Philip Browning, whod become the head of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services in 2011. Before calling 911, Pearl and her boyfriend, Isuaro Aguirre cleaned up their apartment. The educator said the boy appeared anxious about his homework and feared to go home sometimes. Please exercise caution when reading this, as there are accounts of very brutal abuse amounting to torture and a child victim. Corona then gave Martinez the familys name and contact information, telling Martinez to save this kid. He called DCFS twice, but could not navigate the automated system. (This policy was changed in 2011, allowing social workers to use their professional judgment to determine how many witnesses were necessary.). Until, of course, another one did. The announcement that they faced criminal charges had come as a shock. In late April, Gabriel appeared in class looking worse than Garcia had ever seen him. She left a career in genetic res View Stefanie Rodriguez results including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. This time, the students didnt laugh. The documentary looks into the failures of the Los Angeles County DCFS system. n April 26, Pearl Fernandez was at the welfare office with her children when a security guard named Arturo Martinez recognized what the trained professionals had somehow failed to see: that Gabriel was the victim of extreme abuse, and urgently needed rescuing. She visited again two weeks later, and wrote that Pearl Fernandez described herself as the victim of a mother who never showed any real love or positive feelings about her. Clement noted that Pearls boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, was a very pleasant person. Despite Gabriels steady absences, Clement wrote: The children are attending school regularly and doing well., Soon after Clements first visit, Gabriel wrote several notes saying that he wanted to kill himself. She later learned that Gabriel had been declared brain-dead by the time shed called. Oh, okay, Garcia said finally, not knowing how else to cut the tension. Multiple calls had been made to the child-abuse hotline, but a caseworker ended the investigation after Anthony recanted his claims of abuse. The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services sent a statement on Thursday responding to the dismissal of charges, which said: We respect the court's decision. The dismissal was long expected after an appellate panel ruled in January that the social workers should not face charges for failing to prevent the torture and killing of the Palmdale boy. The position title is CHILDREN'S SOCIAL WORKER I. Is it normal for you to bleed?. The appellate court could also dismiss the charges or reduce them to misdemeanors. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express. Gabriel told her that the bruises on his face were because he had fallen while playing tag. They didnt understand what they saw. She was convicted of using a weapon in a reckless manner and sentenced to two weeks in a Texas jail. Learn more about Muck Rack . Merritt, one of the. The program said Gabriel was at very high risk. Executive Business Partner at Lyft . Well, yeah, she told him, recalling that she herself had been spanked as a child. 3. Gabriel asked his teacher, Jennifer Garcia, if it was normal for moms to hit their kids. On May 22, Pearl and Aguirre tortured Gabriel a final time. Other teachers told her that Summerwind was one of the districts nicest schools, but when Garcia looked around at the peeling paint and crumbling stucco, she thought, If this is the best weve got, were really in trouble. Dixons boss, Michael Bailey, allegedly told her not to report the abuse and later, supervisors told her not to cooperate with police regarding his death. I wondered to what extent Gabriels death and the criminal charges facing their former colleagues had affected how they approached their jobs. His skin was almost yellow, like hes been starving or something.. Its not part of your duties.. Pearl rushed out of the office with her children, blocking Martinez view of Gabriel as she did. 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. Rodriguez, Clement, as well as two of their supervisors, Bom and Merritt were charged with one felony count of child abuse and falsifying public records in April 2016. He had internal injuries, including a lacerated liver. We conclude that the petitioners never had the requisite duty to control the abusers and did not have care or custody of Gabriel for purposes of Penal Code section 273a, subdivision (a). About STEFANIE M GUERRERO . (During this period, foster care was in such short supply that DCFS routinely used a conference room to house children overnight.) Others had witnessed the abuse, too. RELATED: Uncle breaks silence on Gabriel Fernandez 7 years after his death. Merritt was on antidepressants, and he rarely left the house. This one guy was talking to himself all the time. Merritt assumed he was mentally ill. Whereas in the past, agencies had received an allocation based on the number of children who were in foster care, Los Angeles and certain other jurisdictions now received waivers that allowed them to keep the same level of funding even if foster-care rolls dropped. (In 2013, Los Angeles County had roughly 3,000 caseworkers and more than 200,000 calls to its child-abuse hotline.). Stefanie's work & advice has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, Cosmopolitan, Glamour and Oprah Magazine. Merritt told me that despite Clements weaknesses, he had to rely on her to be his eyes and ears, so he signed off on her recommendation without reading the file. - nbcnews.com. "The petitioners' actions here prevented the system from working in whatever way it might have had they done their jobs honestly, and offers no incentive for either DCFS or individual social workers to work to reform and repair the parts of the system that may fail the children it is intended to protect," Chaney wrote. They rushed him to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, where he was on life support for two days. READ MOREGabriel Fernandez: What happened to Gabriel Fernandezs parents? This investigation was ongoing when Gabriel died. 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, the opinion continued. Cat feces were forced in his mouth and down his throat. Find Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok profiles, images and more on IDCrawl - free people search website. Those injuries included hits to the face, punches, and even bullets by a BB gun. (Le Norgant also called 911. During a parent-teacher meeting, Pearl said without prompting, I dont hit my kids. Garcia told Pearl that Gabriel was smart and a good writer, but she didnt think Pearl believed her. The petitioners actions here prevented the system from working in whatever way it might have had they done their jobs honestly, and offers no incentive for either DCFS or individual social workers to work to reform and repair the parts of the system that may fail the children it is intended to protect, Chaney wrote. She was right. Visit the Career Advice Hub to see tips on interviewing and resume writing. January 7, 2020 / 5:43 AM She emailed the school psychologist, hoping that Gabriel might be able to receive counseling. The results came back negative. Scalp, Face, Neck, Ears and Shoulder Injuries Documented at Trial (diagam) | Autopsy Injury Diagram (drawing). Rodriguez assured the teacher she would investigate, but matters got worse for Gabriel in November 2012. Murder 24/7: Who narrates murder 24/7 on BBC2? Of this total $30,591 was received as a salary, $2,687 was received as overtime pay, $11,113 was received as benefits and $5,272 came from other types of compensation . He pressed, and she reluctantly went to ask a supervisors permission. After school, Garcia made yet another call to Rodriguez. Los Angeles County social workers Stefanie Rodriguez, Patricia Clement, Kevin Bom and Gregory Merritt, were charged with two felony counts in relation to the death of Fernandez on April 7,. Social workers Stefanie Rodriguez and Patricia Clement and supervisors Kevin Bom and Gregory Merritt are charged with felony child abuse and falsifying public records in the 2013 beating and torture. Rodriguez made one last visit, on January 29, 2013, after Garcia reported that Pearl Fernandez had shot Gabriel in the face with a BB gun. Rodriguez returned her call the following day andallegedly said was assigned to the case and would investigate. Afterward, Pearl found Gabriels sister Virginia on the edge of her bed, where shed sat frozen throughout the beating. If Merritt and his colleagues had dug deeper, or simply paid closer attention to what they already knew, they might have uncovered the familys secret: that Gabriel spent days and nights with a sock in his mouth, shoelaces knotted around his hands, a bandanna shrouding his face, handcuffs locking his ankles, trapped inside a cabinet in his mothers bedroom. Stefanie Rodriguez's lawyer states that there were three subsequent supervisors, two subsequent social workers, one subsequent emergency response worker, two other mental health professionals, and two law enforcement officers all of whom are mandatory reporters as well. The caseworker I shadowed was one of the new arrivals; she held the same job Stefanie Rodriguez had once had. 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