GUILTY CA - Gabriel Fernandez, 8, tortured to death, Palmdale, 22 May 2013

[drjones]

http://www.latimes.com/local/califo...rnandez-sheriffs-deputies-20161222-story.html

One deputy went to the boy’s Palmdale home after his teacher said he had been beaten with a belt. Another deputy, responding to a report that Gabriel was suicidal, left the home without examining or interviewing him.
When a security guard called to report that Gabriel had bruises on his face and what looked like cigarette burns all over his scalp, he was rebuffed by a sheriff’s deputy who screamed that a child being burned was not an emergency, according to court records. Another deputy who eventually went to check on the boy decided that the injuries were caused by a fall from a bicycle.

 

[Baciagalupo]

I'm crying angry tears reading the article. The poor little boy was failed by so many.
My heart also breaks for the teacher. She must feel so powerless.

 

[borndem]

Well, how about this?!

Talk about closing the barn door after the horse is gone... But at least there is a bit of shaking going on...

[h=1]L.A. sheriff's deputies disciplined after horrific torture death of 8-year-old boy [/h]Richard Winton and Cindy Chang - Contact Reporters




It was the worst case of child abuse that local officials had ever seen.


The death of 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez became a grim symbol of the failure of Los Angeles County’s child welfare system, prompting criminal charges against four social workers and far-reaching reforms of how authorities oversee abused and neglected children. Gabriel’s mother and her boyfriend were charged with his murder.

http://www.latimes.com/local/califo...ail&utm_term=0_b04355194f-b646db71c2-80137445

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/412229083.html

A Palmdale elementary school teacher testified Monday that she called a county social worker -- charged alongside three colleagues with child abuse and falsifying records -- multiple times to report that one of her students said his mother punched him and shot him in the face with a BB gun...

Twice Gabriel asked his teacher if she could call "that lady," though Garcia said she never told him about her own calls to the child welfare hotline. But he was also frightened about the consequences, telling Garcia at one point that when the social worker came to his house, he would get "hurt worse," she testified...

The preliminary hearing is expected to take roughly two weeks...

 

[LaborDayRN]

Prosecutors allege that Rodriguez and Clement falsified reports that should have documented signs of escalating physical abuse and the family's lapsed cooperation with DCFS.

Prosecutors also contend that Bom and Merritt knew or should have known they were approving false reports that conflicted with evidence of Gabriel's deteriorating physical health, allowing the boy to remain in the home until he died.

An investigation revealed that at times over an eight-month period preceding his death, Gabriel -- among other instances of violent abuse -- was doused with pepper spray, forced to eat his own vomit and locked in a closet with a sock stuffed in his mouth to muffle his screams, authorities have said.


Source: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/412229083.html#ixzz4XMbRcN00
Follow us: @NBCLA on Twitter | NBCLA on Facebook

 

[cvaldez1975]

http://abc7.com/news/4-la-county-social-workers-to-stand-trial-in-death-of-8-year-old-boy/1809514/


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[kaen]

http://abc7.com/news/4-la-county-social-workers-to-stand-trial-in-death-of-8-year-old-boy/1809514/]


Good. That is the right call.

 

[LietKynes]

Just cannot follow many of these cases... but I made myself read about this little guy.
Maybe because we have two sons....

I shudder to think what I could do with these "parents'. As in -- let the punishment fit the crime.
But I won't bring myself down to THEIR level.

Just a speedy and humane death penalty. Which is more than lGabriel received !!!!
Rest gently, little angel. No one can hurt you any more.
:moo:

 

[LaborDayRN]

Pretrial hearing for Pearl Fernandez and Isauro Aguirre is scheduled for this Thurs. April 13th from 8:00 - 11:00 in downtown L.A. I'm praying it doesn't get postponed again. (information from the Gabriel's Justice Facebook page). It will be 4 years next month...........FOUR YEARS since this beautiful child was murdered. Please, please let this little one get some kind of justice!

 

[LaborDayRN]

What happened at court today -
Court granted the defenses’ motion to continue the trial so the next court dates -
PreTrial – July 20, 2017 (all trial motions will be heard that day)
Jury Trial – September 26, 2017 (Jury selection will start this day. The Court indicated no further continuances.)
Motions -
● (defense) Declare the Death Penalty Unconstitutional – Denied
● (defense) Strike the Death Penalty – Denied
● (prosecution) Permit siblings to testify by closed-circuit TV was tentatively granted (must prove siblings were victims and witnesses and are in counseling). The defense (both defendants), opposed this.
● (Defendant Fernandez 995) Strike the Grand Jury Indictment was tentatively denied. Will be heard again on July 20th.
● (Defendant Aguirre 995) Strike the Grand Jury filed today.

Obtained from the Gabriel's Justice facebook page

 

[LaborDayRN]

Social workers plead not guilty in Palmdale boy’s death


LOS ANGELES – Two former social workers and their supervisors, who are accused of failing to protect an 8-year-old Palmdale boy from deadly abuse by his mother and then-boyfriend, pleaded not guilty Monday to child abuse and falsifying records.

Stefanie Rodriguez, 32, Patricia Clement, 66, Kevin Bom, 37, and Gregory Merritt, 61, were fired from their jobs following an internal investigation into the May 24, 2013 death of Gabriel Fernandez.

On March 20, all four were ordered to stand trial on one felony count each of child abuse and falsifying records. Each defendant faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

They are set to return to court April 27 for a pretrial hearing.

http://theavtimes.com/2017/04/17/social-workers-plead-not-guilty-in-palmdale-boys-death/

 

[Meryl12]

Thank you LaborDayRN for following this case and keeping us updated.

 

[U2forever]

This sickening and sad case is the reason prisons are built, so the wicked that do heinous crimes against children can be put underneath forever.

Godspeed sweet Gabriel :angel:

 

[borndem]

Have day-care workers been prosecuted for this type thing before? I certainly would think so, but I can't recall such a case -- I have never followed one here on WS, but prolly some folks here have. Just wondering what kind of chance the prosecution has to win this -- seems to me the circumstances would support a guilty verdict.

 

[cvaldez1975]

for abuse, or not reporting it?

Have day-care workers been prosecuted for this type thing before? I certainly would think so, but I can't recall such a case -- I have never followed one here on WS, but prolly some folks here have. Just wondering what kind of chance the prosecution has to win this -- seems to me the circumstances would support a guilty verdict.

 

[LaborDayRN]

Have day-care workers been prosecuted for this type thing before? I certainly would think so, but I can't recall such a case -- I have never followed one here on WS, but prolly some folks here have. Just wondering what kind of chance the prosecution has to win this -- seems to me the circumstances would support a guilty verdict.

They weren't day care worker. They are county of Los Angeles Social Workers who were called to the home repeatedly by many people yet failed to take any action to protect this little guy. In addition, they are being charged with falsifying records to cover their tracks.

 

[LaborDayRN]

Thank you LaborDayRN for following this case and keeping us updated.

You're welcome Meryl12. I just want to see justice for this little boy. What a horrible ordeal he suffered at the hands of these monsters.

 

[cvaldez1975]

Every time I look at pix it strikes me that poor Gabriel looks JUST LIKE his excuse of a mother. How can you look at yourself in a mirror and do this!!!! I will never understand


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[LaborDayRN]

Every time I look at pix it strikes me that poor Gabriel looks JUST LIKE his excuse of a mother. How can you look at yourself in a mirror and do this!!!! I will never understand


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I totally agree. I'll never understand either.

 

[Ontario Mom]

Thank you so much LaborDayRN for bringing my attention to little Gabriel and for keeping his thread updated all this time.

I made the mistake of reading from the very beginning, every post, every link, before I had to go out and run errands. All I wanted to do was weep for this precious boy. I'm just stunned it's been almost 4 years and there has still been no justice.

What his sick excuse for a mother (and her filthy boyfriend) did to this boy is unthinkable, but so is the lack of protection from the case workers & supervisors. :gaah: