A federal lawsuit alleges that two DCFS case workers conducted ‘sham investigations’ and falsified reports despite clear signs that Andrew Freund was being abused before his death.
“This week AJ should have been celebrating his 6th birthday, instead his family continues to mourn him. Unfortunately, the very people who were mandated to investigate the ongoing reports of abuse and prevent any further harm to this child failed him,” Attorney Peter J. Flowers said in a statement.
The lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in federal court by Chicago-based law firm Meyers and Flowers, names two Illinois Department of Child and Family Services workers, Carlos Acosta and his supervisor, Andrew R. Polovin, as defendants in the case.
JoAnn Cunningham gave birth Andrew “AJ” Freund in 2013 but the boy was removed from his mother’s custody after she tested positive for opiates and benzodiazepines. DCFS returned AJ to his mother 18 months later.
In the five years AJ was alive, DCFS and police had numerous encounters with the young boy and his parents.
“As a result of Defendant Acostaโs reckless conduct, willful fabrications and callous disregard for AJโs rights,” Flowers wrote in a 36-page civil complaint.
“DCFS released AJ from protective custody and abandoned him to deranged drug addicted abusers who subjected AJ to innumerable beatings, home imprisonments and torture, causing AJ unimaginable physical and mental torment and pain,” Flowers said.
“But for Defendant Acostaโs failure to follow mandated DCFS Procedures, AJ would not have been released from DCFS protective custody in December 2018, and would not have been returned to his parents where he incurred further abuse and was eventually killed,” the civil complaint alleges.
In December 2018, Crystal Lake police contacted DCFS, who opened an investigation into abuse allegations against Cunningham after officers found AJ to have suspicious bruising.
Acosta, who is also a McHenry County board member, was assigned to the case but closed it after attributing the bruising to the family dog, despite Andrew telling an emergency room doctor, “Maybe someone hit me with a belt. Maybe mommy didn’t mean to hurt me.”
The lawsuit alleges that Acosta falsified the Child Endangerment Risk Assessment Protocol and indicated that AJ’s bruise was caused by a dog, despite obvious inconsistencies with the story.
“Defendants Acosta and Polovin, ignoring DCFS Procedures and the Prime Directive of ANCRA, returned AJ right back into the claws of his abusers, who were further emboldened by the Defendantsโ indifference to gear up their infliction of horrific physical and mental abuse and torture, culminating in AJโs murder on April 15, 2019,” Flowers said in the lawsuit.
The Chicago Tribune reports that Acosta and Polovin have worked for more than 20 years for DCFS. Both of the employees remain on paid desk duty pending internal investigations, the Tribune reported.
Three days after the boy’s death, AJ’s father reported the boy missing on April 18. During a 911 call, Andrew Freund Sr. calmly told an emergency dispatcher that he last saw his son when he put him to bed around 9:30 p.m. April 17 at the family home on Dole Avenue in Crystal Lake.
AJ’s parents, Andrew Freund Sr. and JoAnn Cunningham, were both charged with first-degree murder on April 24 after an almost week-long search for the child. Police found the young boy’s body buried in a shallow grave in a field near Woodstock.
Read the entire 36-page lawsuit here
Related Articles
- โMaybe someone hit me with a belt, maybe mommy didnโt mean to hurt meโ Andrew Freund previously told to doctor
- Body of missing 5-year-old Andrew Freund found near Woodstock; parents charged with murder
- Prior police reports describe dog feces, urine, and dirty conditions at home of missing Crystal Lake boy
- Police release 911 call when dad reported 5-year-old Crystal Lake boy missing
- Police say mom of Andrew Freund continues to be uncooperative, dad interviewed by detectives