Bungled Seal Beach Case Prompts Audit of Child Protective Services

Following testimony about a series of high profile child deaths and improprieties within child protective services, state legislators voted today to audit three counties' handling of cases involving children’s welfare.

Assembly members Mike Gatto, D-Los Angeles, and Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks, initially asked the Joint Legislative Audit Committee to examine social services in Orange, Los Angeles and Sacramento counties. In the end, however, lawmakers opted to target 3 unspecified counties for audit, said Justin Hager, Gatto’s communications director.

“Our goal has always been to make sure problems are fixed and best practices are identified, “ said Hager.

Orange County was singled out, in part, because of the case of Deanna Fogarty-Hardwick. The Seal Beach woman won a $4.9-million judgment because two county social workers lied to a juvenile court commissioner so they could take custody of the woman's two daughters. The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Fogarty-Hardwick, who testified before the legislative committee Wednesday, sued the county in 2002 and won her judgment against the county in 2007.

The Audit Committee was surprised by several examples of CPS missteps stemming from rural and suburban areas, prompting legislators to leave discretion to the auditor to choose a cross-section of counties to examine, said. Hager.

In making the case for the audit, Gatto and Tim Donnelly also cited such system breakdowns as the failure of Los Angeles County officials to remove an 8-year-old boy from the Palmdale home where he was allegedly beaten to death by his mother's boyfriend as she stood by.

"Children like Gabriel rely on adults to keep them safe and advocate for their needs," Gatto said. "The death of an 8-year-old boy, whose abuse and neglect was known by officials, is not just unacceptable -- it is horrifying."

Gabriel Fernandez was hospitalized May 22 with BB pellets embedded in his lungs and groin, a cracked skull, broken ribs, burns, bruises and two missing teeth. The boy died two days later.

His mother's 32-year-old boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, was questioned by detectives and admitted injuring the boy, according to Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Brian Hudson.

Gabriel's mother, Pearl Sinthia Fernandez, 29, admitted to being present during the assault and not doing anything to stop it, Hudson said. Both were later charged with capital murder.

However, it was the failure of county social workers to remove Gabriel from his home, despite multiple warning signs and investigations, that prompted the assemblymen's concern.

The Los Angeles Times reported that six investigations into the boy's welfare were conducted over a decade.

"Gabriel had shown up to school with injuries consistent with severe beatings, had told authorities that his parents beat him regularly, and that he contemplated suicide," according to a statement issued by Gatto's office.

Earlier allegations of abuse were deemed unfounded and, by the time the child died from his injuries, the latest investigation had dragged on two months past a legally mandated deadline.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich has called for an investigation of all county social workers and supervisors involved in the boy's case, four of whom have reportedly been put on desk duty in the interim.

Gatto also discussed the case of 5-month-old Sammy Nikolayev in Sacramento, who was "ripped from his mother's arms, in her house, because she asked to see a second doctor before authorizing risky heart surgery for her newborn," according to a statement by Gatto's office. The mother lost faith in medical staff after antibiotics had been administered without a doctor's consent, he said.

"While the facts of this case are not all public, what we do know is alarming enough to warrant further investigation," Gatto said.

"It is inconceivable to most parents that a government agency could enter your home without a warrant and haul away your baby, just because you sought a second opinion before a significant medical procedure."

- City News Service and Patch Editor Paige Austin contributed to this report.