Lexington Herald Leader Logo

Judge wants more details about state's investigation of baby's death | Lexington Herald Leader

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • All News
    • Business
    • Communities
    • Counties
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Lexington
    • Local
    • Most Wanted
    • Nation/World
    • News Photos
    • News Videos
    • Politics
    • Searchable Databases
    • State
    • Watchdog
    • Columns
    • Tom Eblen
    • All Sports
    • UK Sports
    • College Sports
    • Next Cats Recruiting
    • High School
    • Horses
    • Kentucky Speedway
    • Lexington Legends
    • Reds
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • NASCAR
    • NFL
    • Sports Photos
    • Sports Videos
    • Columns
    • John Clay's Columns
    • Mark Story
    • Next Cats Recruiting
    • All UK Sports
    • Next Cats Recruiting
    • Baseball
    • Basketball - Men
    • Basketball - Women
    • Recruiting
    • Ex-Cats
    • Football
    • UK Photos
    • UK Videos
    • More UK Sports
    • Columns
    • John Clay's Blog
    • Mark Story
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • All Entertainment
    • Books
    • Celebrities
    • Comics
    • Puzzles & Games
    • Events Calendar
    • Horoscopes
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Restaurants
    • Stage & Dance
    • TV
    • Visual Arts
    • Entertainment Photos
    • Entertainment Videos
    • News Blogs
    • Kentucky Weather
    • Photo Archive
    • Sports Blogs
    • John Clay's Blog
    • High School
    • UK Football
    • UK Men's Basketball
    • UK Women's Basketball
    • Lexington Legends
    • Entertainment Blogs
    • Walter Tunis on Music
    • All Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Joel Pett
    • Letters to the Editor
    • National Columnists
    • Op-Ed
    • Submit a Letter
    • All Living
    • Celebrations
    • Family
    • Fashion
    • Food & Drink
    • Fru-Gal: Deb Morris
    • Health & Medicine
    • Home & Garden
    • Paul Prather
    • Religion
    • Travel
    • Readers' Choice
    • Kentucky Obituaries
    • Obituaries in the News
    • Submit an Obituary
    • Customer Service
    • Contact Us
    • About Us
    • E-edition
    • Page Reprints
    • Photo Reprints
    • RSS Feeds
    • Special Sections
    • Site Information
    • Advertise With Us
    • Archives
    • Mobile
    • Mobile Apps & eReaders
    • Newsletters
    • Social
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • Google+
    • Today's Circulars
    • Classifieds
    • Jobs
    • Cars
    • Homes
    • Homeseller
    • Legal Notices
  • Place an Ad
  • Mobile & Apps

Politics & Government

Judge wants more details about state's investigation of baby's death

By Beth Musgrave - bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

    ORDER REPRINT →

August 02, 2013 06:20 PM

A Franklin Circuit Court judge wants Kentucky's child-protection agency to provide more information about why it decided last week that the 2010 death of a 4-month-old Jefferson County boy was not the result of neglect.

In a Friday order, Judge Phillip Shepherd requested that the Cabinet for Health and Family Services provide additional testimony and documents explaining why it re-classified the death of Rafe Calvert, reversing a previous determination that Rafe's parents neglected the baby by failing to get appropriate medical treatment.

Rafe was born 26 weeks premature, and his lack of medical care could have resulted in his death, the cabinet previously determined.

Shepherd's order came after a three-day hearing earlier this week in a legal case the state's two largest newspapers brought against the cabinet to obtain documents about children who were killed or critically injured as a result of abuse or neglect.

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to the Lexington Herald-Leader

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

Shepherd has previously ruled that the state must release the records to the Lexington Herald-Leader and The Courier-Journal of Louisville, but the newspapers remain at odds with the state over what information can be removed from the files.

During the three-day hearing, it was revealed that the cabinet only recently obtained an autopsy report on Rafe. After receiving the medical examiner's report, which could not determine a cause of death for Rafe, the cabinet rescinded its earlier decision to substantiate neglect on the part of Rafe's parents.

Department for Community Based Services Commissioner Teresa James testified that her agency requested the autopsy report as it was preparing for this week's court hearing. There is no indication that the cabinet had previously obtained the report.

James said Rafe had multiple health problems at the time of his death, leading the agency to determine that Rafe's death could not be tied directly to neglect. But James also acknowledged that social workers may have made mistakes in the investigation of a previous neglect complaint regarding Rafe.

On Feb. 19, 2010, medical personnel contacted the cabinet to report that Rafe's parents had missed eight medical appointments and there was concern that Rafe's parents had taken him off oxygen. However, there is no indication in Rafe's file that social workers immediately investigated the neglect call.

Rafe's case file shows that social workers didn't call to follow-up on the initial complaint until March 5. That's when a medical worker informed the state that Rafe had died on Feb. 25. The medical worker had seen the baby's obituary in a newspaper.

The file notes that social workers made an unannounced visit to the home of Rafe's parents on March 9 and learned Rafe had been sleeping on an adult pillow in a bassinet. The records also indicate that the home was in poor condition, with a large hole in the living room floor.

James testified that if social workers waited 14 days before checking on the initial complaint involving Rafe, then they would have violated the cabinet's protocol for investigating possible abuse and neglect in a timely manner.

Christina Heavrin, the cabinet's general counsel, said during the hearing that documents regarding Rafe's death were no longer subject to the state's Open Records Act because the cabinet did not consider the baby's death to be the result of neglect.

Related stories from Lexington Herald Leader

politics-government

Expert says Kentucky's child abuse review panel needs funding and staff

September 09, 2013 03:31 PM

watchdog

Newspapers file suit for state's child abuse records

January 28, 2011 12:00 AM

watchdog

Review panel for child abuse deaths proposed

February 11, 2011 12:00 AM

politics-government

Judges say Kentucky juvenile courts should be open, child-protection system in shambles

January 13, 2012 12:00 AM

politics-government

Bill would require assessment of children in Kentucky's child protection system

February 16, 2012 07:05 PM

watchdog

Judge orders state to turn over all documents in toddler's death

December 08, 2010 12:00 AM

  Comments  

Videos

Trump announces national emergency to get border wall funding

Sen. McConnell says Trump will sign spending bill and declare a national emergency

View More Video

Trending Stories

‘It’s a good day to die.’ Man pulls gun on couple wearing MAGA caps at Kentucky Sam’s Club

February 18, 2019 02:29 PM

Sayre School to honor ‘two remarkable young men’ killed in car crash.

February 18, 2019 12:52 PM

Curse of Saratoga strikes again? Another Chevy Chase restaurant closes in Lexington.

February 19, 2019 12:19 PM

Kentucky students need border wall before a new middle school, Sen. Lindsey Graham says.

February 18, 2019 11:41 AM

Two killed in Interstate 64 collision in Frankfort

February 18, 2019 11:01 AM

Read Next

Trump wants California to pay back billions for bullet train

Business

Trump wants California to pay back billions for bullet train

By KATHLEEN RONAYNE Associated Press

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 19, 2019 09:23 PM

The Trump administration plans to cancel $929 million in U.S. money for California's beleaguered high-speed rail project and wants the state to return an additional $2.5 billion it's already spent.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to the Lexington Herald-Leader

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE POLITICS & GOVERNMENT

Judge OKs suit aimed at halting Obama library in Chicago

Business

Judge OKs suit aimed at halting Obama library in Chicago

February 19, 2019 08:18 PM
House panel approves surprise request by Bevin to borrow $150 million for state parks

Politics & Government

House panel approves surprise request by Bevin to borrow $150 million for state parks

February 19, 2019 08:04 PM
Despite bill’s demise, W.Va. teachers to strike for 2nd day

National

Despite bill’s demise, W.Va. teachers to strike for 2nd day

February 19, 2019 07:59 PM
Latest: City lawyer welcomes decision on Obama library suit

National

Latest: City lawyer welcomes decision on Obama library suit

February 19, 2019 06:12 PM

Politics & Government

Stacey Abrams appearance at voting rights hearing has political overtones, GOP says

February 19, 2019 10:20 AM
Beshear’s running mate ran as a ‘pro-life’ Democrat in 2014. Her stance has changed.

Politics & Government

Beshear’s running mate ran as a ‘pro-life’ Democrat in 2014. Her stance has changed.

February 19, 2019 03:28 PM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Lexington Herald Leader App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Archives
Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Place a Classified Ad
  • Local Deals
  • Digital Solutions
  • Media Kit
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story