A 2-year-old boy placed with relatives by Santa Clara County’s child welfare agency died after suffering sexual abuse, raising renewed questions about an agency already under state oversight and prompting calls for an independent investigation.
The toddler’s 17-year-old cousin appeared in juvenile court Monday facing six counts of sexual assault on a child. Prosecutors say they are waiting for more information from the investigation about the cause of death before considering a murder charge.
The toddler named Jackson died April 9.
In an email to staff late Monday night, Wendy Kinnear-Rausch, the director of the county’s Department of Family and Children’s Services, said the child had been “recently placed” with the mother of the 17-year-old and that the boy had died “due to abuse and neglect.”
Jackson’s death comes as the state Department of Social Services was wrapping up 18 months of oversight of the county’s child welfare agency, and requiring major reforms in the aftermath of at least two previous child deaths.
County Supervisor Sylvia Arenas and Steve Baron, a member of the county’s Child Abuse Prevention Council, called on the state’s Department of Social Services to again investigate, this time to determine whether any actions by the county may have led to Jackson’s death.
“I’m heartbroken for this child and horrified by the deliberate actions and failures to act that are directly responsible for this murder and the abuse that came before it,” Arenas said Monday in a statement. “I cannot overstate my concern both for the details of this case and for the system failures that all had to occur for this child to be abandoned to this fate.”
Kinnear-Rausch, in her email obtained Tuesday by the Mercury News, said her agency was conducting an internal review “to make sure we understand this child’s experience and all steps we can take to better ensure children in our community are safe.” She said she had requested the state conduct its own investigation as well.
She didn’t explain what happened to the boy’s parents, why the child was placed with these relatives and whether they were properly vetted.
In a statement Monday, County Executive James Williams called the child’s death a “horrific tragedy” and that keeping children safe is the agency’s “essential priority.”
“We are committed to getting to the bottom of what happened and holding people accountable, where appropriate,” Williams said. “That process has already begun, and we are doing everything we can to quickly understand all the facts and to take all appropriate actions. We are sending our deepest condolences to the family for their loss.”
Jackson’s death comes after two children in the agency’s care perished. In 2023, 3-month-old Phoenix Castro died of a fentanyl overdose when she was sent home with her drug abusing father over objections from social workers. And in 2024, 7-year-old Jordan Walker was stabbed to death, allegedly by an uncle, after he was placed with his grandmother despite objections from relatives who feared he wouldn’t be safe there. The boy’s maternal grandfather is suing the county.
A report released in February by the county’s Child Death Review Team, led by the chief medical examiner, found that in 2022, three children died after repeated referrals urged the county’s child welfare agency to intervene and ensure their safety.
The California Department of Social Services, concerned since early 2023 that the county’s child welfare agency focused more on family preservation than child safety, had launched an investigation and required the county to follow an 18-month “corrective action plan.” The state has said in recent reports that the county had made significant improvements and was set to end its oversight in June.
Baron, from the Child Abuse Prevention Council, said that oversight needs to continue.
“There needs to be a thorough information gathering and assessment of this whole case before any conclusions and judgments are made,” said Baron, who emphasized he was speaking for himself and not the child abuse council. “One of the key issues would appear to be this: what kind of assessment was done of that placement, what kind of record checks were done, including DFCS and criminal record checks?”
Prosecutors filed six counts of sexual assault against the teen, including three involving sodomy. Deputy Public Defender Richard Lee, representing the teen, declined to comment Monday. Prosecutors did not explain the toddler’s cause of death or why the teen wasn’t charged with murder.
“We’re very cognizant that when SJPD is still trying to do follow up investigations, we just simply can’t say much until they complete that investigation,” Santa Clara County Assistant District Attorney Paul Jhin, who is supervising the case, said outside the courthouse Monday.
He also declined to say whether his office would request that the 17-year-old be tried as an adult. This news organization is not naming the teen because he is a minor, nor his mother to protect the teen’s identity.
In juvenile court Monday, as the teenager with a husky build and beard sat at the defendant’s table, Judge Christopher Van Meir ruled that the teen would remain in custody at least until the next court hearing, scheduled for April 27.
The 17-year-old’s mother, attending the court hearing along with the teen’s godmother, acknowledged in a brief interview that the county’s child welfare office had been involved with the family, but said she “didn’t know everything that was going on.” She said the toddler was a cousin.
When children must be removed from their parents, Baron said, placing them with relatives is often the best alternative.
“Family relationships are absolutely the preferred and appropriate alternative when you have to remove a child,” Baron said. “But it still has to be safe.”