Grand jury report: Child Protective Services failed to protect Thomas Valva
CENTER MORICHES, Long Island (PIX11) – It was a case that tore at the hearts of all New Yorkers.
Two brothers were seriously abused by the very people who should have protected them. The tragedy surfaced after Thomas Valva froze to death in the family garage.
His father and his fiance were later found guilty of abuse and are serving long jail sentences.
The question arises: how could this have happened, considering 11 credible complaints had been filed and nothing was done?
The Suffolk County District Attorney looked for answers.
Revelations after the death of the 8-year-old boy prompted Suffolk County DA Ray Tierney to impanel a grand jury to investigate why Child Protective Services let the boys down. After a six month probe, tierney released the findings of the 75 page report.
“Had Child Protective Services done its job, Thomas Valva would still be alive today,” he declared.
The boy froze to death in January 2020 after being forced to sleep during a cold night in the family garage in Center Moriches. Thomas and his brother Anthony had been repeatedly abused by their father and his fiance.
They were beaten and often deprived of food. Although 11 credible complaints were filed with Child Protective Services by the boy’s teachers, nothing was ever done with almost all of them.
“Shockingly, 10 of those reports of maltreatment and child abuse filed by teachers before Thomas’s death were classified as unfounded, meaning they disappeared. CPS was of no help whatsoever,” Tierney noted.
Under current state law, when a child abuse case is deemed unfounded, the information is sealed and unavailable to law enforcement or other agencies.
“The failures of CPS were hidden by a dysfunctional system. How could this happen,” Tierney asked.
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The district attorney noted that even with video evidence of abuse, CPS caseworkers did nothing.
“Video shows the father repeatedly punching the boys, and that report was deemed unfounded just 11 days before Thomas’s death,” according to him.
Teachers from Thomas’s Each Moriches Elementary School were teary-eyed as they listened to the grand jury’s findings. Tierney offered several recommendations to improve the system.
One is to amend current laws to access sealed, unfounded reports. Another is to require CPS to review any case after three credible reports. He calls on Governor Hochul to form a task force to review laws and rules governing CPS. And he’d like Suffolk County to explore a training academy for CPS caseworkers.
“CPS failed these boys. It failed miserably. Thomas died,” Tierney said.
The people who were guardians of the young boys, their father, Michael, a former NYPD police officer and his then-fiancee, Angela Pollina, were both found guilty of depraved indifference murder and are now serving 25 year to life sentences.
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