User:Yvette 282/Murder of Gabriel Fernandez

Social Worker
The social workers associated with the Gabriel Fernandez case were Stefanie Rodriguez and Patricia Clement. The other parties associated were their supervisors, Kevin Bom and Gregory Fernandez.

The social workers were accused of neglecting Fernandez and falsifying public records. Calls regarding child abuse concerns began to occur between the years of 2012 and 2013. The first call came in from his teacher (Jennifer Garcia).

Jennifer Garcia’s concern started when Fernandez first asked her concerning questions regarding being whipped. Garcia reported her concerns to the child welfare hotline. Stephanie Rodriguez, a social worker, was assigned to Fernandez’s case. Garcia continued to see signs of child abuse such as a fat lip, pieces of hair missing. Gabriel also claimed that he had been shot in the face with a BB gun Garcia continued to call the child welfare hotline and was told each time that a social worker would check in on Fernandez. However, there was never a medical follow up and every time a social worker would go to Fernandez’s household, she never talked directly to Fernandez and would only talk to his mother.

According to legal scholar Charlotte Hinkamp, there was sufficient evidence of child abuse and it was surprising that the Department of Children and Family Services did not remove Fernandez from his home

The four social workers were charged with two different felonies: child abuse and  falsifying public records. However, charges were dropped in 2020 as justices in the 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled that failure to uphold their duties and failure to remove Fernandez from his abusers did not constitute criminal liability for child abuse.