Actress. She enjoys both developing curriculum for caregivers and delivering it in the classroom and online. Skin was peeling off his forehead. How do you prioritize your spending when you have debt and dreams for the future? Both were soon fired from the department, as were their supervisors, Gregory Merritt and Kevin Bom. Stefanie Rodriguez in Texas. Free college is now a reality in nearly 30 states. This time, Garcia didnt ask what had happened. Lomeli also presided over the trial of Fernandez killers, his mother and her boyfriend. Garcia called the principal to the room to take a look at Gabriels head. A motion to appeal the 2nd District Court of Appeals decision was denied in January 2020. I just dont want to remember it.. They didnt understand what they saw. In a 2-1 opinion, the three-justice panel concluded there was no probable cause to hold the two social workers and their supervisors on the charges. he next day, the principal at Summerwind called Garcia into his office to tell her that Gabriel was dead. Wake Forest, NC 27587 But many of the children in his caseload had that designation. They did nothing. Toggle primary navigation. The next year, California passed the first state law mandating that doctors report suspected child abuse and neglect. Gabriel told her he had fallen off his bike and begged her not to send him home early. Find contact's direct phone number, email address, work history, and more. Dice charged with child abuse and falsifying public records, Pearl Sinthia Fernandez, was sentenced to life in prison, while her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, was sentenced to death. County policy requires workers in Merritts position to read the entire file before approving a closure, but the departments manual ran to 6,000 pages. According to the next worker assigned to Gabriels case, Patricia Clement claimed that new abuse allegations were already being dealt with and that she was going to close the case because there were no concerns at the moment. 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. On February 27th, 2013 therapist Carmen Le Norgant discussed with Pearl suicide notes Gabriel had written. 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. . Back in her classroom, Garcia saw the Mothers Day card on Gabriels desk. By creating this job alert, you agree to the LinkedIn User Agreement and Privacy Policy. Pearl Sinthia Fernandez was sentenced to life in prison without parole after pleading to first-degree murder and admitting the torture allegation. The caseworker I shadowed was one of the new arrivals; she held the same job Stefanie Rodriguez had once had. With his mother present, Gabriel told Rodriguez the bruises on his face came from a fall he had playing with his brother and dissenter. 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. Stefanie has been found in 13 states including Florida, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, Arizona. Thats why its so crushing to see him treated this way, she said. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search inputs to match the current selection. Rodriguez assured the teacher she would investigate, but matters got worse for Gabriel in November 2012. Mind your own business. Gabriel at School Just Before Mother's Day. Statistical mechanics is the theory underlying condensed matter physics. Due to the amount of injuries to his body, the autopsy took two days. 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. Fernandez pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty and received a sentence of life in prison without parole. Gabriel, by contrast, had a striking innocence. She delivered her testimony with plaintive wails and required frequent recesses to gather herself. The area had seen an influx of poor families, and the number of calls to the child-abuse hotline was rising faster there than anywhere else in Southern California. In January 2013, Rodriguez visited the family home after Ms Garcia reported Gabriel had been shot in the face with BB gun. He told me he winced whenever he read in child-death cases that his employees had interviewed a child with the alleged perpetrator nearby, or had halted their inquiry when a child recanted a claim of abuse. The many prior hotline calls gave them five points. His new address meant a new school, too. 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. Merritt, who is 62, had worked in the department for more than two decades. See full bio More at IMDbPro Contact Info: View agent, publicist, legal on IMDbPro Known For Phil the Alien Young Madame Madame 2004 Hide all | | Edit Filmography Hide Actress (1 credit) 2004 Phil the Alien The couple got married in Iowa in 2018. 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. 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. Buy, sell, and rent smarter with Stefanie Rodriguez at Compass. He finally admitted that Pearl shot him in the face with a BB gun. One day, he stole Garcias iPod and took it to his mom, trying to please her. Name. Such shallow inquiries were routine across Los Angeles County. 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. 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. Fishpond Hong Kong, Statistical Mechanics, Third Edition by R K Pathria . The social worker Garcia contacted, Stefanie Rodriguez, 31, another social worker, Patricia Clement, 66, and two of their supervisors, Kevin Bom, 37, and Gregory Merritt, 61, are now facing charges of one felony count each of child abuse and falsifying records in relation to this case. The medics felt two fractures in Gabriels skull. If the case proceeds to trial and the defendants are convicted, they could face over 10 years in prison. But Judge Mary Lou Villar was not persuaded. Martinez called his own supervisor who explained that was not in his job description. As Children'S Social Worker at Los Angeles County, STEFANIE A RODRIGUEZ made $49,663 in total compensation. His neck had been stripped of a layer of skin. ( Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. This seemed like the perfect case for us, Starr told me. The law requires all reports to go through the hotline, the lawyer noted. Prosecutors allege Rodriguez and later Clement the latter took on the case after Garcia was shot in the face falsifiedrecords. He whispered to Garcia that he didnt know what to say when they asked what had happened. Reid took detailed notes, and Garcia soon received a phone call from Stefanie Rodriguez. Rodriguez told her that confidentiality rules prevented her from saying. As days passed, and then weeks, Gabriels situation only seemed to worsen. She had lost custody of a son named Arnold Jr and had abandoned her youngest daughter, Destiny. One of his eyes was a deep red. When he was in school, he would kick other students. Jennifer Garcia began calling social workers in 2012. Sleeping Pods. The therapist, a woman named Barbara Dixon who worked for an outside contractor, saw Gabriel often in the months leading up to his death and had grown concerned that he was being abused. As long as human beings are involved in the child welfare program there are possibilities for mistakes to occur, he wrote. MORE: Palmdale woman, boyfriend sentenced in 8-year-old's torture killing. Around this time, Gabriel came to class looking even worse than he ever had before. Doctors took him off life support on May 24, 2013. Paramedics found Gabriel naked in a bedroom with a cracked skull three broken ribs and BB pellets embedded in his lung and groin. Stephanie Rodriguez Social worker Greater Sacramento 7 followers 7 connections Join to view profile Department of Child, Family, and Adult Services Sonoma State University Experience Human. We further conclude that the petitioners were not officers within the meaning of Government Code section 6200," wrote Justice Francis Rothschild. Get notified about new Licensed Clinical Social Worker jobs in Chevy Chase, MD. 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. Pearl Sinthia Fernandez was sentenced to life in prison without parole after pleading to first-degree murder and admitting the torture allegation. Stefanie Lohaus. On the wall behind the jury box, dark oily blotches had formed over the years behind the heads of countless weary jurors. Pearl herself had suffered abuse as a child, giving the family another two points. Copyright 2023 KABC Television, LLC. The 2nd District Court of Appeal advised that the lower court dismiss the charges against the social workers. abriel was often tardy or absent, and when he did make it to school, hed kick other studentsGarcia was constantly having to move his seat. 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. 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. 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. On file we have 129 email addresses and 83 phone numbers associated with Stefanie in area codes such as 813, 347, 718, 281, 256, and 32 other area codes. 3. Prosecutors opened an investigation into the social workers assigned to Gabriel's case after his mother Pearl Fernandez and stepfather Isauro Aguirre's were found guilty of his murder in 2018. Gabriels grandmother objected, telling deputies that Pearl neglected and abused her children. 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. Rodriguez recommended Gabriel for a program called Voluntary Family Maintenance, which was being used with thousands of families. According to the case file, Rodriguez met Gabriels family in their second-floor apartment, which looked out on the back of a row of dollar stores, two days after Garcias first call to the hotline. 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