A judge granted a motion to dismiss charges on Thursday against four former Los Angeles County social workers involved in the case of Gabriel Fernandez, the 8-year-old Palmdale boy who was tortured to death in 2013.

The brief, socially distanced hearing in Downtown Los Angeles saw the four former employees—Stefanie Rodriguez, Patricia Clement, Kevin Bom, and Gregory Merritt—appear in court, all wearing masks.

Appellate Court Mandate Leads to Dismissal

Superior Court Judge George Lomeli was ordered by a state appeals court to dismiss the felony charges. These charges included child abuse and falsifying records against the former social workers.

The Court of Appeals for California’s Second District issued a ruling on January 6. This ruling stated that the four workers could not face child abuse charges because they “never had the requisite duty to control the abusers and did not have care or custody of Gabriel.”

Furthermore, the three-member appellate panel determined that none of the workers met the legal definition of “officers.” Consequently, they could not be charged with falsifying records.

Reactions Following the Ruling

Attorneys for the four former workers declined to offer detailed comments after the hearing. However, Hagop Kuyumjian, an attorney for Kevin Bom, expressed gratitude.

“Our clients … are very grateful for the court’s ruling that the case was dismissed and that they were declared factually innocent,” Kuyumjian stated.

Patricia Clement was seen embracing family and her attorneys in the courtroom hallway afterward, visibly emotional and saying, “I’m so overwhelmed.” Prosecutors from the district attorney’s office did not attend the dismissal hearing.

Background of the Infamous Case

The four social workers were initially charged in March 2016. This followed the district attorney charging the boy’s mother and her boyfriend with first-degree murder, including a torture sentencing enhancement.

  • Gabriel’s mother, Pearl Sinthia Fernandez, pleaded guilty in February 2018 and received a life sentence without parole.
  • The boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, was sentenced to death in June 2018 after being found guilty at trial.

Months before his death, Gabriel showed injuries to a school teacher and a security guard at an L.A. County welfare office. Both reported the abuse to the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and the Palmdale Sheriff’s Department station.

History of Unaddressed Abuse Reports

Dozens more reports of child abuse were filed with both agencies, frequently originating from family members. Despite these reports, deputies visited the home but reportedly did not take any child abuse reports.

Rodriguez was the social worker assigned to Gabriel’s case and made multiple visits to the home, yet the child was not removed. Reports concerning Pearl Fernandez’s mistreatment of her children spanned nearly a decade and involved at least one other child.

During that period, DCFS initiated at least six investigations into abuse within the home; all but one were ultimately deemed “unfounded.”

Professional Consequences and Future Actions

An autopsy revealed Gabriel suffered multiple broken ribs, burns across much of his body, missing teeth, and facial wounds from being shot with a BB gun.

All four DCFS employees involved in the case were terminated from their positions, and their social work licenses were revoked. Rodriguez and Clement were social workers, while Bom and Merritt served as their managers.

Attorneys for the four stated they plan to appeal to the state Attorney General’s office to seek reinstatement of their licenses. They argued in court that violence in the home escalated after Fernandez’s case was closed and that evidence was insufficient to warrant removing him from his mother.

Judge Lomeli had previously called the young boy’s death “foreseeable” when initially allowing the charges against the four to proceed. Other officials, including former Board of Supervisors members, noted that the workers missed clear warning signs.

The Fernandez case spurred widespread reforms at DCFS, coming after several other child deaths where intervention failures by DCFS workers were heavily criticized. However, subsequent child deaths have continued to occur.