Exclusive transcripts detail how 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez was allegedly tortured and killed at the hands of his mother and her boyfriend, despite being under the supervision of the Los Angeles Department of Child and Family Services.
Gabriel’s mother and her boyfriend are suspected of regularly beating Gabriel, even though an in-home outreach counselor was sent to Gabriel’s home four times a month to check for signs of child abuse.
A social worker oversaw the case and visited once a month. The counselors were there to work with the family and support Gabriel after he was returned to his mother from his grandparents' care.
"It's different work," said Blanca Vega, a DCFS program manager, when referring to the duties of the counselors. "It's a lot of advocacy, navigation. They support families."
One of these counselors testified before a grand jury, explaining that she never spoke to Gabriel without his mother and her boyfriend present and admitting that she was not specially trained to detect physical child abuse.
The counselor went on to recount an instance when Gabriel admitted that he wanted to hurt himself.
"I was concerned for his safety," the counselor said. However, hours after calling 911 – when no authorities arrived – she left. The next day, Gabriel told her he was "OK."
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"There was nothing that was done technically wrong," Vega said.
While the counselors who visited Gabriel’s home are trained in child abuse awareness, Vega clarified that they are not investigators.
"Actually, they don't have the ability to go in and ask straight-forward questions," Vega said. "They cannot undress a child. They can’t look for physical signs of abuse."
In-home counselors can initiate investigations, but that does not necessarily correlate to a medical evaluation.
This may not be the case for long – NBC4 has learned of plans to allow in-home counselors to conduct immediate medical and forensic exams.
