Two former Illinois child welfare employees arrested in connection with the death of AJ Freund
Two former employees of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services who oversaw the case of Andrew “AJ” Freund were arrested on Thursday, according to the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office.
Carlos Acosta, 54, and Andrew Polovin, 48, were taken into custody Thursday evening, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. Jail records show both men posted $20,000 bond later that night.
Both are charged with two felony counts of endangering the life of a child and one felony count of reckless conduct, according to court records. CNN affiliate WLS reported the indictments of the two men said the DCFS workers committed failures that were a “proximate cause of AJ Freund’s death.”
The sheriff’s office said it does not have any additional information to release regarding the investigation. It’s unclear if either man has an attorney.
The body of 5-year-old Freund was found in a shallow grave in April 2019, just days after his parents reported him missing.
A pathologist found he died from head trauma due to blunt force injuries, according to a coroner’s report.
DCFS released a summary of its records, reports and documents showed the agency had numerous encounters with the family, including 17 unannounced visits between June 2015 and March 2016. At the time, the worker did not observe signs of abuse or neglect, DFCS said.
The child’s parents were charged with murder and other offenses.
His mother, JoAnn Cunningham, pleaded guilty in December and was sentenced in July to 35 years in prison.
Freund’s father, Andrew “Drew” Freund Sr., is awaiting trial and a status hearing in his case is scheduled for September 16, according to court records.
The Illinois Office of the Inspector General said in its annual report, released this past January, that investigators from DFCS “ignored the parents’ long history of addiction, the mother’s recent relapse, and the parents’ isolation of the children from caring relatives and day care providers.”
A spokesperson for DCFS confirmed to CNN that both men are no longer employed by the organization but declined to give any additional comment.
Acosta is a member of the McHenry County Board. Board Chairman Jack Franks said in a statement released Friday that he asked Acosta to step down. State law doesn’t give the board or the voters the ability to remove Acosta from office, Franks said, adding that “the overwhelming sentiment would be for him to step down.”
“With the charges filed against him, Mr. Acosta cannot continue to be an effective member of the County Board,” Franks said in a Friday statement. “We spoke this morning and I encouraged him to resign. My opinion is not based on his innocence or guilt, which is up to the court to decide, but his ability to represent the citizens of County Board District 5 with these charges being filed.”
Franks called for an overhaul to the child welfare system “to ensure that this tragedy never happens again, as well as the need to hold people accountable if they were negligent in their duty.”
