More than a year before a boy was allegedly subjected to extreme abuse and torture, Los Angeles County officials in 2005 investigated allegations that he suffered from neglect and was at "substantial risk." But officials ultimately determined the claims to be inconclusive, according to county records obtained by The Times.
At the time, the boy's mother, Starkeisha Brown, had been arrested on suspicion of stealing a bracelet and other items at a Macy's department store with the child in tow. The boy stayed with his grandmother while his mother served about nine months in jail -- and the Department of Children and Family Services closed the case file, never returning to check on the boy, the records show.
Brown reunited with him last year, beginning what the Los Angeles Police Department described as "unbearable psychological and physical abuse," including cigarette burns on his body and genitals, near-starvation and beatings.
The details, contained in a DCFS report prepared for Los Angeles County supervisors this week, prompted some officials to ask why social workers didn't have more contact with the family after that initial visit.
"When I read what happened, it seemed like the system broke down on a number of levels, whether it's the criminal justice system, the welfare system or child services," Councilwoman Janice Hahn said. "It seems to me there were a lot of red flags."
Hahn, whose district includes the South Los Angeles neighborhood where the abuse allegedly occurred, said the boy's plight speaks to a larger problem.
"I couldn't believe it," added Supervisor Yvonne Burke. "Our system has to be just tighter. . . . This is a time when we really have to be vigilant. We need to figure out how we can get the ability to find and track down these people."
Police said Brown, 24, and her live-in girlfriend Krystal Matthews, 21, committed the bulk of the abuse. According to one allegation, the 5-year-old was hung by his hands and wrists from a door jamb and whipped with some sort of leash or chain.
The women were arrested over the weekend and each charged with one count of torture and conspiracy, as well as other charges of child abuse, corporal injury to a child and dissuading a witness. Brown's and Matthews' bails were set at $1.1 million and $1.08 million, respectively. If convicted, they face 25 years to life in prison.
