Lawmaker demands answers from DCFS, proposes new bill to help

WEST HAVEN — State lawmakers are joining a growing number of voices demanding answers from the Utah Division of Child and Family Services in the death of 12-year-old Gavin Peterson.

Representatives Christine Watkins, District 67, and Tyler Clancy, District 60, told KSL TV they will be questioning the Utah Division of Child and Family Services about their response to multiple complaints filed by school employees and family members on Gavin’s behalf over the years.

“We ended up with a child dying and in the state of Utah that’s inexcusable,” Watkins said. Watkins is the House Chair of the Child Welfare Legislative Oversight Panel which oversees DCFS.

Prosecutors allege Gavin suffered for years, fed only a slice of bread with mustard once a day, until he died on July 9. According to court documents, doctors determined Gavin was so malnourished, that his internal organs shut down completely.

A photo of Gavin Peterson taken by his biological mother in February, 2020, who wanted to document what she considered to be signs of malnutrition. (Melanie Peterson)

Gavin’s father Shane Jesse Peterson, 46, stepmother, Nichole Lea Scott, 50, and older brother, Tyler Shane Peterson, 21, with whom Gavin lived, are charged with child abuse homicide and multiple other charges connected to his death.

“They took him out of school and just literally took him away from the world and kept him locked in their home,” Watkins said. “I’m concerned that all of the things that the teachers and the lunch ladies did to report this, that nothing happened. Why did nothing happen?”

Jan Davis, a former cafeteria worker at Kanesville Elementary School in West Haven, was one of several school employees who called DCFS to file complaints as early as 2021. Davis alleges the boy was eating food from the trash can because his parents weren’t paying for school meals or sending a packed lunch.

‘The system is broken’: Cafeteria worker speaks out in death of 12-year-old boy

The Weber School District confirmed Gavin was withdrawn from school in August 2023 to be homeschooled. The school district also confirmed multiple complaints were filed by school employees.

“The system is broken, not only the social service but I feel like the school system is broken,” Davis said during an interview on July 23. “I feel like someone should have followed up on his homeschooling, done a home check on him just to find out more of what was going on.”

“I want to know how many times this was reported to (DCFS),” Watkins said. “Was it multiple caseworkers that were reached out to? Was it one person who dropped the ball? Was it a group of people?”

“If there’s already been all these reports of neglect, maybe abuse, and then the child is pulled out of school to be homeschooled, to me that is a huge red flag that nothing is going to change for this child. It may get worse,” Watkins said.

Watkins is also working on a new bill that would enable social workers to get a warrant to ensure a child’s well-being.

“(DCFS) wants the right to be able to go get a warrant, to be able to put eyes on a child. They don’t have that right now, we don’t have that anywhere in law,” Watkins said. “There are those rules in place that say parents have a right to raise their children the way they want, and the state can only step in at certain times.”

Watkins said the bill is still in the early stages and they need to iron out several details including the circumstances that would allow social workers to get the warrant, and whether they will need to be accompanied by law enforcement to execute it.

“We’re going to be working on how many times do they reach out, not have the phone answered, not have the door answered, before we say DCFS, you go to the judge and get a warrant to enter the home, see the children, and check out what the home environment is,” Watkins said.

Influenced by Gavin’s death, Watkins also wants to include a clause that would automatically trigger a welfare check on a child after a certain number of red flags are raised or complaints are filed.

“When they (DCFS) have so many reports that people think a child is being abused or neglected or hungry, that after so many of those reports, they have to act,” Watkins said. “We’re not going to let them off the hook.”

Due to privacy concerns, DCFS has declined to answer KSL’s questions or comment on the case.

Shane Jesse Peterson, 46, Nichole Lea Scott, 50, and Tyler Shane Peterson, 21, were each charged Friday in 2nd District Court with child abuse homicide, a first-degree felony; and two counts of aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony. Both Tyler Peterson and Scott also face additional charges of obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony. Scott was charged with two counts and Peterson with one.

Shane Peterson and Scott were also each charged with child endangerment, a third-degree felony. Scott is facing an additional charge of drug possession, a class A misdemeanor.

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