Gabriel Fernandez: Charges against social workers who 'failed to prevent' abuse and killing of 8-year-old boy dropped
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge is expected to dismiss the charges made against the social workers involved in the Gabriel Fernandez case on Thursday, July 16. The social workers had been accused of child abuse and also falsifying records with regards to the torture and subsequent death of the 8-year-old boy. It is said that the dismissal had been expected after a ruling in January that said that the social workers should not face charges for failing to intervene and prevent the death of the child.
Gabriel was brutally tortured and beaten to death by his mother, Pearl Fernandez, and her boyfriend Isauro Aguirre in 2013. The case made headlines given how the system failed to intervene and remove the child from harm's way. The four social workers: Stefanie Rodriguez, 35, Patricia Clement, 69, and their supervisors Kevin Bom, 41, and Gregory Merritt, 64 had earlier been charged with one felony count of child abuse and one felony count of falsifying public records.
The County's top prosecutor had released a written statement in February and said, "My office vigorously pursued those who directly caused Gabriel's death and those who failed to intervene to protect him." "While we prevailed against those who inflicted the injuries, the appellate court rejected our theory of criminal liability against the social workers, who my office believed had a duty to protect Gabriel," the statement continued.
With the news of the very likely dismissal of charges against the social workers spreading, social media users have been left outraged and started trending #JusticeForGabrielFernandez to express their disgust and anger.
One such user wrote, "So you're f**king telling me, that the workers who DIDNT DO THEIR JOB are having charges dropped from them? WHAT ARE YOU? F**KING CRAZY? THEY DIDNY DO THEIR JOB, RESULTING IN GABRIELS DEATH. HELL, THEY SHOULD BE CHARGED WITH ASSISTED MURDER. THE JUSTICE."
Another added, "#Justiceforgabriel #JusticeForGabrielFernandez YOU COULD HAVE SAVED THIS LITTLE BOY BUT YOU CHOSE TO IGNORE IT I am f**king pissed off, this little angel did not deserve this!!!! I personally am enraged by what has happened to this little boy. my heart aches for the family..."
"The fact that the social workers won’t get charged is absurd. If they were doing their job right, Gabriel would still be alive. Those social workers didn’t care about Gabriel’s life #JusticeForGabrielFernandez," wrote a Twitter user.
Another outraged social media user echoed the same sentiments and wrote, "A heavy heart hearing the SW's will not be charged. Ive spent my entire career fighting for Abused & Neglected Kids Ive given up on Broke System! Abusers & Enablers must suffer the same exact punishments they inflicted. Beatings, Starvation ect. #JusticeForGabrielFernandez."
We had earlier reported that after Gabriel died, an anonymous source from the LA County Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) came forth to release an official document that showed a shocking pattern of neglect from the organization.
Netflix's documentary 'The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez' looks into the tragic case of what happened to Gabriel Fernandez at the hands of his own mother and her boyfriend.