CPS knew boy had injuries well before death

UPDATE from earlier posts (included at the end of this story)on Fabian Silva III

CPS knew boy had injuries well before death

Report released this week in 4-year-old's death

SHERYL KORNMAN
Tucson Citizen

Child Protective Services first learned Fabian Silva III appeared to have been physically abused when Tucson Medical Center's staff called CPS in October 2007, reporting bruising around his groin, on his penis and over both eyes, records released Wednesday reveal.

On Jan. 27, Fabian, 4, died at University Medical Center, one day after he was brought to the emergency room in cardiac arrest.

The boy lived with his mother and her boyfriend, Alejandro M. Romero, 25. Romero has been charged with reckless manslaughter and child abuse in the death.

The boy's mother has not been charged with a crime, Tucson police spokesman Sgt. Fabian Pacheco said.

A CPS summary of its involvement with the family shows that in October 2007, Fabian had a blood clot in the back of his head, apparently from "blunt force," and bruising at the base of his penis that appeared to have been caused by the organ being "constrained."

It does not appear from CPS documents that the agency suspected Romero was abusing the boy or focused an investigation on him.

The first suspected abuse report to CPS was made Oct. 31, 2007. His mother, Marina Baker, said he might have fallen on the carpet or been wrestling with an older sibling. She said she thought he had the flu; he'd been vomiting for several days.

She told CPS workers investigating the family that her boyfriend's alleged daily marijuana smoking was not an issue for her. She left her children with him while she worked.

"Intensive in-home services were recommended" for the family, according to the summary.

On Nov. 7, 2007, a CPS investigator told a relative of the toddler that his older sibling wrote to their biological father, claiming Romero was abusing them.

Baker told CPS workers the child was not capable of writing the letter, the summary says. Rather than focus on the boyfriend, CPS told the biological father that Fabian could no longer share a bedroom with his older sibling on visits to his father, the summary says.

In December 2007, a caseworker said the mother was cooperating with "in-home" services recommended by CPS. On Jan. 24, 2008, an in-home services provider talked with Baker about preventing domestic violence, noting she had been in a previous violent relationship, the summary says.

On Jan. 26, UMC called CPS to report Romero had brought the boy to the hospital because he "could not wake him."

An autopsy report showed the boy died from "blunt impact to the head" with swelling of the brain.

CPS kept the family's case open to provide services to Fabian's older sibling, who is now living away from his mother, with relatives. CPS said Romero "neglected Fabian when he failed to seek (emergency) medical treatment" for him on Jan. 26, 2008.

Romero was alone with the boy at the time. The older sibling was in a class and the mother was at work, the CPS summary said.

Also, the report points out, he drove to a hospital 30 minutes from the family's home, rather than taking him to the nearest hospital, St. Mary's.

Romero has not been allowed to have unsupervised contact with the older sibling since Fabian died, according to the CPS document.

It was released Wednesday after a Freedom of Information Act request was made to CPS by the Tucson Citizen after the boy died.

Link - CPS knew boy had injuries well before death Fabian Silva III

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