South Bay Toddler Dies in Foster Care After Alleged Sexual Assault

The family of a toddler in Santa Clara County’s foster care system said they are heartbroken and angry after officials said he died after allegedly being sexually assaulted by a teenage relative.

The death this month of 2-year-old Jaxon has put a fresh spotlight on the county’s beleaguered Department of Family and Children’s Services, which has been under state oversight and faced lawsuits following the deaths in 2023 of two other young children under its supervision.

Critics have accused the department of prioritizing family reunification over the safety of children.

“We trusted them because that’s what they’re supposed to do, is protect our children, and they didn’t,” Riley Wallace, Jaxon’s aunt who lives in Arizona, said Wednesday afternoon. “They did not protect him in any shape or form.”

The county said the department,  which is charged with shielding children from abuse, neglect, exploitation or abandonment — is investigating the death and has asked the state’s Department of Social Services to conduct its own independent investigation.

The San José Police Department acknowledged it was investigating the case, but said it cannot comment on an active investigation.

The Mercury News first reported the death.

The county confirmed the death of the child occurred on April 9, which Wallace said came after multiple days in a hospital following the alleged assault on Easter Sunday.

Wallace said Jaxon’s mother died last year due to alcohol abuse. Jaxon was ultimately transferred by Child Protective Services to live with a cousin of his father, and the cousin’s 17-year-old son, in San José, Wallace said.

The exact details of what happened are not yet clear, but the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office confirmed that a 17-year-old boy has been charged with six counts of sexual assault in the case.

Wallace said the county agency “rushed” its decision to place Jaxon with those relatives and didn’t properly vet them.

“We’ve just been really lost…and we’ve been really heartbroken,” Wallace said. “He was supposed to be celebrating with kids and family and celebrating the life of Jesus, and instead his life was taken from him. So it’s been hard to cope with that and knowing that he wasn’t in safe hands when he should have been.”

The department has faced intense scrutiny following the death of a 3-month-old girl named Phoenix in May 2023.

She died from fentanyl poisoning in a San José home with addicted parents. Her mother died months later, and her father is facing a murder charge.

The county department is also being sued by the grandfather of a 6-year-old boy named Jordan Walker, who was stabbed to death by a relative in a home in San José in August 2023.

After those deaths, Santa Clara County Supervisor Sylvia Arenas, who sits on the Board of Supervisors’ Children, Seniors and Families Committee, demanded more oversight and changes to how the county’s Social Services Agency, which includes child welfare, operates.

“I’m heartbroken for this child and horrified by the deliberate actions and failures to act that are directly responsible for this murder and the abuse that came before it,” Arenas said in a strongly worded statement on Wednesday. “I cannot overstate my concern both for the details of this case and for the system failures that all had to occur for this child to be abandoned to this fate.”

The agency, under a state-issued corrective plan, said it was making improvements last year in removing more children from potentially dangerous situations and requesting more children be placed under court supervision while living with parents who aren’t attending voluntary parenting classes or taking advantage of services.

County CEO James Williams called this month’s new case a “horrific tragedy” in a statement.

“My heart aches for this small child. Keeping children safe is an essential priority. We are committed to getting to the bottom of what happened and holding people accountable, where appropriate,” Williams said. “That process has already begun, and we are doing everything we can to quickly understand all the facts and to take all appropriate actions. We are sending our deepest condolences to the family for their loss.”