ST. PAUL, Minn. - A state mortality review panel released its findings Friday in the case of 4-year-old Eric Dean, saying Pope County made several mistakes in handling the case and violated state law.
The boy died after his father's live-in fiancé, Amanda Peltier admitted to police she "launched" him across the room back in 2013. A jury convicted her of murder. She is serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole in 30 years.
Last year, a KARE 11 News Investigation showed Pope County had at least 15 reports of potential abuse against the toddler but barely even investigated.
And after the Star Tribune first reported Eric Dean's story, Governor Mark Dayton called for sweeping statewide reforms and appointed a task force to do just that.
The mortality review listed a number of recommendations, including requiring an investigation if a child under the age of six is physically abused, providing more training for social workers and more state dollars for the child protection system.
"I think this should be kind of our manifesto," said Kathleen Blatz, a task force member and former chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court.
Governor Dayton proposed adding $50 million to the budget Friday that would do to the child protection system.
"I think what you saw today was the task force wanted to move in the direction of doing more fact finding in all of these cases," said Lucinda Jesson, the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
The report also detailed missteps by Pope County, including not contacting police after reports of abuse, which is a violation of state law. The mortality review panel recommended clarifing the statute so it clearly stated all child abuse reports should be handed over to law enforcement.
At Friday's meeting, we learned that communication between child protection and law enforcement throughout the state is still a problem.
"It's pretty appalling when I get push back from my counterparts that we're still not doing it," said Mower County Sheriff Terese Amazi, a task force member.
When KARE 11 asked if anyone was disciplined over the handling of the Eric Dean case, Pope County Human Services Director Nicole Names did not directly answer the question, but did write in an email that her department "has not been notified by DHS of any incorrect screening decisions in the DHS review of statewide screening decisions."
She listed a number of changes the county has already made, including providing all abuse reports to police, not closing cases when a child is deemed "high risk" and establishing a team to screen abuse reports.
Dr. Mark Hudson, a member of the state task force and a child abuse pediatrician, puts more blame on the system than Pope County child protection workers. He said the system does not emphasis getting law enforcement involved in the process.
"Almost 80 percent of our children who have been reported with physical injuries enter a system where there is no requirement to find out if someone's hurt them, if they've been a victim," he said.
The task force plans to officially vote on the recommendations March 13th.
"He died too early, and he died tragically," said Blatz about Eric Dean. "He will have done more in his little life than most of us perhaps would have accomplished."
