Colton Turner, 2, was found buried in a shallow grave in Austin in September 2014. His mother and stepfather have been charged with injury with a child in connection with the toddler's death. A Texas Department of Family and Protective Services investigation concluded there had been a litany of failures on the part of the CPS investigator. That investigation found that the investigator failed to try to find Colton or to obtain copies of photos after finding out that pictures of the boy showing him with marks and bruises had appeared on his mother's Facebook page. It also faulted the CPS worker for not appropriately investigating Colton's living conditions. The investigator and two supervisors were fired. (Source: Austin American-Statesman)
Brandon White, 15, suffocated after he was tied up at his home in Denison in January 2013. His mother's boyfriend was convicted of murder. His mother received a 10 years of probation for injury to a child and unlawful restraint. Records showed CPS received repeated complaints spanning more than a decade that Brandon, who was autistic, was being abused and neglected. The reports included that he had black eyes, bruises, and had been burned with a cigarette. Caseworkers ruled out abuse, leaving Brandon in the home. A CPS spokesman said an internal review found that there had been "very poor casework." (Source: Austin American-Statesman)
Alicia Moore, 16, was found stuffed in a trunk along in a road in Van Zandt County in November 2012 after being abducted in Greenville. Her uncle, Michael Moore, has been accused of capital murder. Records show two-and-a-half months before she was killed, a CPS investigation had been opened into whether the girl's mother was adequately protecting and supervising the special-needs teenager. Alicia had already been removed from her mother's home twice before. Prosecutors have alleged that former CPS investigator Rebekah Thonginh Ross and two supervisors falsified records in connection with Alicia's case to cover up the lack of an investigation. The criminal cases are still pending. Attorneys for the three workers have denied any wrongdoing.
Tamryn Klapheke, 22 months, was pronounced dead at an Abilene hospital in August 2012 after being found unconscious in a urine-soaked bed at her family's home. An autopsy found she died of starvation. The child's mother told the authorities that she was too stressed out to care for her three children after her husband was deployed overseas. Her mother was later found guilty of injury to a child. The caseworker who had been assigned to investigate complaints of medical neglect against the child's mother had closed out the case just six days before the toddler died. The review found that employee hadn't seen the family in about 10 months at the time she closed the case. A former CPS regional administrator was indicted on a tampering with evidence charge last summer. (Source: Abilene Reporter-News)
