DCFS Investigators In AJ Case Charged With Child Endangerment

MCHENRY COUNTY, IL — Two former Department of Children and Family Services employees tasked with investigating AJ Freund abuse claims have been arrested and charged with child endangerment in connection with the young boy's death, authorities said Thursday. The McHenry County Sheriff's Office took Carlos J. Acosta, 54, and his former supervisor with the McHenry County DCFS office, Andrew R. Polovin, 48, into custody Thursday night.

Both Acosta, of Woodstock, and Polovin, of Island Lake, have since been released from jail on bond, according to online jail records. Acosta, a McHenry County Board member and former DCFS employee who investigated claims of abuse leveled against AJ's parents, and Polovin, Acosta's supervisor at the time of the probe, face two felony counts of endangering the life of a child and one felony count of reckless conduct.

McHenry County State's Attorney Patrick Kenneally said he is not aware of any other times DCFS employees have been charged in McHenry County in connection with a child abuse case.

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Prosecutors had been looking into possible charges against Acosta and Polovin since AJ's death. Kenneally said documents subpoenaed by his office in May helped move the investigation forward, but he could not share details on those documents.

Meanwhile, bail for Acosta and Polovin was set at $20,000, and both posted the required bond to be released from the McHenry Correctional Facility shortly after their arrests.

AJ Freund was originally reported missing on April 18, 2019, and later found dead in a shallow grave near Woodstock. His parents, Andrew Freund Sr., 60, and Joann Cunningham, 38, were charged with murder following the discovery of the 5-year-old boy's body.

Cunningham has since been sentenced to 35 years in prison, and Andrew Freund is expected in court next week. Both Polovin and Acosta were placed on desk duty following AJ's death. The duo was fired in December.

• AJ Investigators No Longer With DCFS: Reports

In the months following AJ's death, Patch.com detailed the encounters AJ's parents had with DCFS during his short life. AJ was placed in foster care with a relative after he was born with opiates and benzodiazepines in his system. After 18 months, AJ was returned to his parents' care, and the Department of Children and Family Services made 26 visits to the home, where they reported no signs of abuse or neglect.

The family went almost two years without any contact with DCFS until calls started coming in again in March 2018 regarding "odd bruising" on AJ's face and dog feces on the floor at the home. Then came a December 2018 hotline call, which, according to the Chicago Tribune, Acosta was the caseworker assigned to investigate.

The call detailed environmental neglect for both AJ and his younger brother who, at the time, lived with Freund and Cunningham at 94 Dole Avenue in Crystal Lake.

According to the December report, AJ had bruises, welts and cuts. Police were called to the home and saw a large bruise on Andrew's hip and also reported a home in disarray: the ceiling was falling down, the floor was torn up, and they noticed a smell of urine in the children's bedroom.

Cunningham was arrested for driving on a suspended driver's license, and both children were taken into protective custody. A DCFS investigator interviewed both boys at the police department. AJ's younger brother would not talk with police. He appeared to be healthy and well-cared for, according to DCFS. Andrew was interviewed and reported he received the bruise when the family's dog pawed him.

A DCFS investigator spoke with Cunningham, and she said they were remodeling the home and admitted the residence did smell like dog feces and urine. Andrew Freund Sr. posted bond for Cunningham on the driving while license suspended charge, and she was released from custody. That same day, a physician at the emergency room examined AJ, but could not determine how his bruise was caused. The doctor reported the injury could have been caused by a dog, belt or a football, according to DCFS.

During the examination, Andrew told the doctor, "Maybe someone hit me with a belt. Maybe mommy didn't mean to hurt me."

A DCFS investigator contacted Andrew Freund Sr. to pick the children up from hospital until the home environment could be assessed, and he was asked to remain in the home as a safety precaution, according to the report. The next day, a DCFS investigator conducted an unannounced home visit.

The living room and dining room were cluttered with clothes and toys. The kitchen was clean and the floor was missing tile. The ceiling was not falling, and investigators noticed a slight odor of dog urine, but no feces or urine was observed on the floor. Andrew Freund Sr. reported to the investigator that he did pick the children up from the hospital the previous night. He also denied any corporal punishment and that Cunningham was using drugs.

On Dec. 20, 2018, the DCFS investigator spoke to a past investigator for the family regarding her case and findings. A couple weeks later, DCFS determined the report was unfounded due to lack of evidence regarding the original allegations of cuts, welts and bruises on AJ.

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On Friday, McHenry County Board Chair Jack Franks called on Acosta to step down from his seat on the county board. While many within McHenry County, including local politicians, are calling on Acosta's removal from the county board, Franks said under state law, that is not actually allowed.

"State law doesn't give the county board or the voters the ability to remove Mr. Acosta from office," Franks said in a statement released Friday afternoon. But Franks did say he spoke with Acosta Friday morning and encouraged him to step down.

"The decision is his to make, and his alone," he said. "However, I believe it's safe to say that if it was up to the county board, and up to me, the overwhelming sentiment would be for him to step down. If the public had the power under the law to remove him from office, I have no doubt that the consensus would be to do so."

• Carlos Acosta Should Resign From County Board: Franks

In October, AJ's family filed a federal lawsuit that accuses the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services investigator Carlos Acosta and his supervisor Andrew R. Polovin of reckless conduct, violation of investigative protocol and callous disregard in the months leading up to the boy's death.

The lawsuit filed by the State Bank of Geneva claims Acosta and Polovin ignored DCFS procedures and the prime directive of the Illinois Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act after Crystal Lake police department took AJ from his parents, who were accused of abusing him, and placed him in protective custody.

The lawsuit claims Crystal Lake police officers, medical personnel and AJ's neighbors made numerous calls to DCFS' Child Abuse Hotline in 2017 and 2018, describing AJ's injuries and the "appalling" condition of the home at 94 Dole Ave. in Crystal Lake that he shared with his parents and younger brother."

"Inexplicably and contrary to DCFS procedures," only two of the calls made to the hotline in those two years were investigated — one from March 18, 2018, and the other from Dec. 18, 2018, the lawsuit says. Acosta and Polovin then "conducted sham investigations and filed reports which included falsified findings intended to justify their determinations that the allegations of abuse were 'unfounded.'"

Related:

• Court Records Show History Of Neglect, Drugs For Freund's Parents
• Cunningham Beat, Berated AJ After He Wet The Bed: Warrant
• Details Released Following Cunningham's Guilty Plea
• Workers In AJ Freund Case Expected To Be Fired
• Prosecutor Wrote Letter To DCFS A Year Before AJ Freund's Death
• DCFS Woes in McHenry Co. 'Getting Worse,' State's Attorney Says
• State Rep Urges Gov To Cancel Holiday Gala, Focus on DCFS Woes