Biological family of missing Cal City boys file complaint against Kern County

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Jan. 24—The biological father and grandmother of missing California City boys, Orson and Orrin West, filed a complaint in Kern County Superior Court, alleging Kern County and Kern County Child Protective Services negligently placed the boys into the custody of their adoptive parents.

A summons is listed under the Kern County Board of Supervisors' Tuesday agenda, which notes the filing has been referred to the county counsel's office. The county has 30 days to respond to the complaint, which demands a jury trial.

The plaintiffs in the complaint include Charles Pettus, the biological father of the Orson, 3 and Orrin, 4, and Brenda Pettus, the biological grandmother of the boys. The complaint seeks compensatory and punitive damages and alleges that the "negligent hiring, training and supervision," by the defendants caused "irreparable and severe emotional distress," which will affect the family forever.

"It's just a tremendously tragic situation," according to Antonio Castillo, the attorney for the plaintiffs. "Obviously, a lot of things went wrong over a long period of time."

A request for comment was not returned Monday by the county counsel's office nor the Kern County Department of Human Services, under which CPS operates.

Orrin and Orson West vanished from a California City home in December 2020. The brothers' adoptive parents, Trezell and Jacqueline West, had assumed parentage of the boys after they were taken by CPS, according to the complaint.

The complaint alleges Cinsere and Classic Pettus, the names given to Orson and Orrin West respectively, were taken from the custody of their biological family after an investigation was opened regarding abuse with another family member.

However, the complaint states the boys were not under the supervision of the biological parents or grandmother. When Brenda Pettus said she could take custody of the children, CPS did not give her the boys, Castillo said.

"The defendants had a duty to the plaintiffs to investigate the safety of both the Pettus homes, welfare of the children and the safety of the environment, but negligently failed" when the brothers were taken from the care of any biological family members, the complaint alleges.

Furthermore, the Pettus family was not aware of the vetting process that ultimately determined the Wests were qualified adoptive parents, or why the boys were not given to other biological family members, according to the complaint.

"Plaintiffs suffered severe emotional distress, and the negligence of the Defendants were a substantial factor in causing Plaintiff's severe emotional anguish," the complaint said.

The plaintiffs seek an unspecified amount of monetary damages, which will be determined at trial.

"We're just going to do our best to figure out how it happened, and to make sure that the agencies are held accountable for how they allowed this to happen to these two kids," Castillo said.

You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. You can also follow her at @idesai98 on Twitter.