Father Sues Central California County Over Death Of Son

A father suing Fresno County claims social workers in the central California region didn’t protect his 10-year-old son who was killed by his mother’s boyfriend.

Trial begins Tuesday in Joseph Hudson’s civil suit claiming Child Protective Services workers knew boyfriend Lebaron Vaughn was violent before Seth Ireland’s beating death four years ago.

Hudson, who was trying to get custody when the boy was killed, says social workers investigated reports of abuse but allowed the boy to remain In the home.

Lebaron was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for the crime. The boy’s mother, Rena Ireland, was sentenced to six years for enabling Vaughn.

Because of the boy’s death, the California Auditor’s Office launched an investigation of statewide child protection services. The investigation suggested that social workers here were generally following the law.

Latest Comments

• January 23, 2013 at 6:05 pm

  InsGuy says:

  Careful, that's a slippery slope. Would you rather that CPS' first action be removal? Innocent until proven guilty or assumed guilty? gov't simply is not the solution for anyt... read more
• January 23, 2013 at 5:07 pm

  I agree, Sean says:

  Where was the dad in all of this? There's not enough information here.
• January 23, 2013 at 3:36 pm

  Perplexed says:

  Amen, the guy should get the death penalty and the boy's mother needs to get more than 6 yrs for allowing her boyfriend to be around him. What a shame that respect for life h... read more