Rally For Thomas Valva: Group Demands Change For 'Broken System'

RIVERHEAD, NY — A group gathered Saturday at the Suffolk County Department of Social Services in Riverhead to demand justice for Thomas Valva, an 8-year-old who died after police said he was left alone in an unheated garage following months of abuse. The child was found at the home belonging to his father, Michael, and his fiancee, Angela Pollina.

The group marched along Main Street in Riverhead, chanting "Justice for Thomas," waving signs that read "Protect our children from abuse, not the abusers," and other signs that demanded that the judges and others involved in Thomas' case should be "removed."

Among those gathered were Thomas' mother, Justyna Zubko-Valvo, the event's organizer Dina Marie Marrazzo, of the "Take Action: Justice for Thomas" Facebook page, and Marie Gouldsbury, who organized the "In Memory of Thomas Valva (beneficiary Justyna)" GoFundMe page. They were joined by a group who'd come from nearby Riverhead and as far as Staten Island to demand change for a system they believe is "broken" and let Thomas' case fall through the cracks.

"We are rallying to change a broken system at CPS," said Marrazzo. "Justyna is here, and we are here to support her. We are not going to let this be swept under the table. We are not going to stop until the system is fixed," she added.

Kathleen Berezny, a former longtime Riverhead Board of Education member and president, attended the march. "I just want this corruption of agencies to be investigated, and this not to happen to families and children. It is horrific, what Thomas went through," she said.

Since Thomas died on Jan. 17, many have demanded answers.

At Saturday's rally, Zubko-Valva said she is fighting to shed light on a system she believes failed her son. Speaking exclusively to Patch, Zubko-Valva thanked all who gathered Saturday to support the event, explaining that those present were rallying "against corruptive and abusive actions of Suffolk County Child Protective Services, who did so much damage to me and my family," and whose actions, she alleged, led to "to the murder of my son Tommy."

"We definitely want to raise our voices in stopping the corruption — to move forward as well as make the changes necessary to make sure that other children who are victims of this system are going to receive justice, are going to be safe, are not going to be abused anymore. . .This cause truly touches my heart because the death of my son Tommy could have been preventable. There were alarms on my behalf as well as the school, that could have saved his life," Zubko-Valva said. "So this is for you, Tommy."

On Feb. 6, Assistant District Attorney Kerriann Kelly painted a grim depiction of the day Thomas Valva, 8, died as Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini, who said Thomas died in a "house of horrors," unsealed five-count indictments against Valva, 40, a NYPD officer, and Pollina, 42. Valva and Pollina, of Bittersweet Lane, were arrested on Jan. 24; both have been charged with second-degree murder and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child, Sini said. If convicted, both face 25 years to life behind bars, Sini said.

Speaking first of Pollina, Kelly said she demanded the boys call her "Mommy," and had reportedly "screamed and yelled," at them, treating them "nothing short of miserably." Pollina, Kelly said, was "cruel, callous, wanton and evil."

Thomas and his brother Anthony, 10, were undernourished, begging for food, foraging through the garbage at school and for crumbs because they were "so hungry," Kelly said. Teachers, she said, asked Pollina and Valva to send additional food to school for the boys, but that did not happen.

Both boys, she said, were sent to school with their hands and cheeks red and cold to the touch; by their second year in the East Moriches School District, Kelly said, the boys were wearing pull-ups to school, often soiled. They had been told not to see the nurse, Kelly said, and did not, because they were "in fear" of Pollina and their father. The boys, she added, slept in a room with no access to a bathroom and when they soiled themselves, were punished by being made to sleep on the cold cement floor of the basement, with no blankets, no mattress, no pillows, no extra clothes to keep them warm.

The boys, Kelly said, were physically abused; during one incident, Kellly said, Pollina "dragged Thomas and threw him down the stairs."

Videos taken in the house a day and a half before he died, she said, showed both boys in the garage, Thomas shaking from the cold and stating that he needed to use the bathroom, looking at the camera "with pleading eyes for someone to help him," Kelly said.

Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice William Condon remanded Pollina back to jail without bail.

Her Huntington-based attorney Matthew Tuohy had asked for $50,000 cash/$100,ooo bond, stating that his client has maintained she is innocent.

Born in Nassau County and a Suffolk County resident, Tuohy said Pollina had never been in trouble before her arrest, had custody of her three girls, and had medical issues that needed attention. She is due back in court of Feb. 24.

Valva, who had a previous attorney who is no longer on the case, had asked for Legal Aid representation. Attorney Dan Russo conducted an investigation and said Valva had the means and was able to retain private counsel, something Condon urged he secure. Until then, the issue of bail was deferred.

Valva, Kelly said, was a NYPD officer who took an oath to protect residents and also, "had a duty to protect his children," she said. But instead, he was "cruel, callous, wanton and evil" to his two boys, who were autistic but high-functioning, she said.

Valva, Kelly said, "slapped" and "punched" Thomas, picking him up the wrists so that his feet dangled above the floor, and threw him down the stairs. Both boys, she said, had bruises and scratches on their faces, given to them "by their father."

When he was brought to the hospital, Thomas body was 76.1 degrees; he died of hypothermia when his organs failed, Kelly said. When he was found, Thomas was naked except for a pair of sweatpants pulled down below his knees, Kelly said.

After the court proceedings, Bay Shore based-attorney Robert Del Col, appointed to represent Valva at Thursday's proceedings, said: "Cases like this with the horrific allegations that are made, test the fabric of our judicial system. The public's passion is understandable. However the cry for vengeance eventually must succumb to the pursuit of justice."

According to the New York Post, the state's child abuse hotline received at least 17 emergency calls about Michael Valva's children in the months before Thomas died. One call, the New York Post said, centered on an black eye that Thomas reportedly sustained in 2019.

A report by CBS New York said that, according reports obtained, from 2018 to 2019, there were 20 calls from teachers in Thomas' East Moriches school district to child protection hotlines in New York State and Suffolk County, regarding issues such as absences, "a black eye, lacerations, hunger, visible dirt on the body, and urine-soaked clothing." Valva, the report said, blamed it on playground incidents.

The Nassau County Legislature's Health Committee held a special public hearing to ensure that the county's Departments of Social Services and Health have proper staffing, processes and procedures in place to prevent a similar tragedy in the county.

Since Thomas' death, calls for reform have come from a variety of people and organizations. A "March For Change (Honoring the Life Of Thomas Valva)" was held at Heckscher State Park in East Islip.

Although his father initially reported that Thomas died after a fall in the driveway, new details emerged at a news conference Jan. 24 by Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart. Thomas Valva officially died of hypothermia, according to the Suffolk County Medical Examiner, Hart said. "We believe that he was kept in the garage overnight preceding his death," Hart said.

When the boy was found, she said, his body temperature was 76 degrees and he had head and facial injuries inconsistent with his father's account of what had happened.

Zubko-Valva, has had her temporary custody arrangement extended.

Since Thomas' death, hundreds have taken to social media to call for the removal of the judge who ruled in the Valva case. A "Rally to Remove Judges — Justice for Thomas," took place in Mineola.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone announced the members of a new internal review committee recently that he said will be "performing a top to bottom review of the Thomas Valva case in the Department of Social Services."

"As a parent, I am horrified by what happened to this beautiful boy," said Bellone. "As county executive, I want to know if there's anything else that could have been done under existing law to prevent this from happening. Beyond that, I want to know if anything in this case suggests that changes should be made to existing policy or law."

Questions of how the system could have failed Thomas have arisen since his death. Amid pleas by Zubko-Valva on her Twitter page, the Suffolk County Department of Social Services stated that CPS was notified about abuse more than a year before his death, News 12 said.

For years, Zubko-Valva begged for help in a string of frantic Tweets. "The Child Protective Services and the Court are protecting the abusers of my children and swipe everything under the rug. I am heartbroken because my children are being purposely hidden from me, and unlawfully I am not being allowed to even see my children on Thanksgiving," she wrote in 2018.

Zubko-Valva, embroiled in a contentious divorce, has said she lost custody of her three boys because of false allegations, according to News 12.

Despite child abuse allegations, nothing was done to remove the children from the home where Thomas died, reports said. NBC News reported that Frances Pierre, commissioner of Suffolk County's Department of Social Services, said an allegation of child neglect was made in 2018, which sparked child supervision, including orders of protection, for a year. After that, the post said, "CPS investigated additional complaints" connected to the family, Pierre said.

The New York Post reported that a complaint was lodged with New York State's Office of Children and Family Services about a child being forced to sleep in the garage Valva's house,"but Suffolk County's Office of Child Protective Services determined it to be 'unfounded.'"

On Saturday, as they headed to their cars after the march, those present commented on the frigid cold: "Imagine how Thomas must have felt in that garage," Marrazzo said.