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  307. 1Back to results
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  324. Lawsuit claims DCF at fault in Acton toddler's 2010 death
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  326. Redmond, Lisa. The Sun; Lowell, Mass. [Lowell, Mass]09 Jan 2014.
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  380. In court documents, DCF's attorneys state that [Andrea Rizzitano]'s lawsuit should be dismissed because it is flawed since individual employees are protected from being sued. DCF also denies that employees threatened Rizzitano in her own adoption case, and denied retaliating against her after she spoke to the media.
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  382. Rizzitano alleges that DCF employees looked no deeper than if Hancock's house was clean and if there was food in the refrigerator to determine that she was capable of caring for [Kayden Hancock]. DCF failed to investigate complaints of abuse, she said, claiming instead that Rizzitano was "making up stories" to make Hancock "look like a bad mother," her lawsuit states.
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  384. The DCF's alleged negligence in the cases of Kayden and [Jeremiah Oliver] also puts thousands of children under DCF's protection at risk, creating a "catastrophic epidemic" in the state, Rizzitano alleges in the lawsuit.
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  442. BOSTON -- "They let him die."
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  444. That's how Andrea Rizzitano sums up how the state Department of Children and Family Services failed to respond to her pleas for help as her niece, Christina Hancock of Acton, repeatedly abused her 13-month-old son, Kayden Hancock, killing him in 2010.
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  446. And it appears to have happened again, said Rizzitano, a Waltham resident.
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  448. Jeremiah Oliver, 5, of Fitchburg, is missing and feared dead after prosecutors allege that the boy's two siblings were beaten by their mother's boyfriend, Alberto Sierra Jr., 23. Jeremiah's disappearance has rocked DCF, which has fired three employees for allegedly failing to check on the boy for three months.
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  450. On Wednesday, as state Attorney General Martha Coakley, a candidate for governor, proposed an overhaul of the state Department of Children and Family Services, Rizzitano was in federal court for a hearing on a lawsuit she filed against DCF officials and Gov. Deval Patrick on Kayden's behalf.
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  452. "I have to do this for Kayden," Rizzitano, 51, told The Sun. "I will not let him be forgotten."
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  454. DCF attorneys were in court Wednesday morning arguing that the lawsuit Rizzitano filed in May should be dismissed.
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  456. In court documents, DCF's attorneys state that Rizzitano's lawsuit should be dismissed because it is flawed since individual employees are protected from being sued. DCF also denies that employees threatened Rizzitano in her own adoption case, and denied retaliating against her after she spoke to the media.
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  458. DCF denies liability in Kayden's death because Hancock, not DCF, inflicted the lethal blows, Rizzitano said.
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  460. Judge Joseph Tauro took the matter under advisement.
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  462. Hancock, Rizzitano's 23-year-old niece, is serving an eight-to-10-year sentence in state prison after pleading guilty last March to manslaughter, reduced from first-degree murder, for Kayden's death on May 12, 2010.
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  464. An autopsy revealed that Kayden died of blunt-force trauma. His injuries included internal bleeding and contusions of the stomach, liver and colon. He had been brought to the hospital two months before his death for a fractured arm.
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  466. Rizzitano alleges that DCF employees looked no deeper than if Hancock's house was clean and if there was food in the refrigerator to determine that she was capable of caring for Kayden. DCF failed to investigate complaints of abuse, she said, claiming instead that Rizzitano was "making up stories" to make Hancock "look like a bad mother," her lawsuit states.
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  468. Rizzitano alleges in the lawsuit that DCF officials failed to keep Kayden, who was the victim of repeated physical and emotional abuse, free from harm.
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  470. "They let him die," she said.
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  472. In addition to Kayden, Hancock has three other children: a 5-year-old girl who Rizzitano is in the process of adopting; a 9-year-old boy in the guardianship of a cousin; and a child Hancock gave birth to while behind bars who is in foster care.
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  474. For those siblings who are old enough to remember Kayden, Rizzitano said his death has "devastated" them and her.
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  476. Rizzitano, who saw Kayden daily, claims in her lawsuit that she repeatedly notified DCF officials of Hancock's abuse of the child, yet her cries for help went unheard. She claims there were 64 previous reports to DCF against Hancock.
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  478. "How many times I begged and cried for help," she said. "How many times did I tell them Kayden was in danger?"
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  480. The case of Oliver -- the 5-year-old Fitchburg boy who wasn't checked on by DCF workers for five months and is now presumed dead -- is a painful reminder of Kayden's death, Rizzitano said.
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  482. The DCF's alleged negligence in the cases of Kayden and Jeremiah also puts thousands of children under DCF's protection at risk, creating a "catastrophic epidemic" in the state, Rizzitano alleges in the lawsuit.
  483.  
  484. Follow Lisa Redmond on Tout and Twitter@lredmond13_lisa.
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  486. Credit: Lisa Redmond, [email protected]
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  507. (Copyright (c) 2014 ANG Newspapers. Cannot be used or repurposed without prior written permission.)
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  627. FORESTALLING FORECLOSURES: [FINAL Edition]
  628. The Sun; Baltimore, Md. [Baltimore, Md]14 May 2007: 8A.
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  631. Passed over by Cox, Park gets boost from Lynch
  632. The Sun; Lowell, Mass. [Lowell, Mass]28 Jan 2007: 1.
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  636. The Sun; Lowell, Mass. [Lowell, Mass]14 June 2007: 1.
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  640. Chabot, Hillary. The Sun; Lowell, Mass. [Lowell, Mass]18 Dec 2007: 1.
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  644. The Sun; Lowell, Mass. [Lowell, Mass]09 May 2007: 1.
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  657. People
  658. Rizzitano, Andrea
  659. Hancock, Christina
  660. Hancock, Kayden
  661. Oliver, Jeremiah
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