A social worker is facing charges related to the death of a boy found buried in the backyard of an Ohio home.
In a news conference Wednesday, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley said that if social worker Nancy Carabello had been doing her job, she would have witnessed the deplorable conditions Larissa Rodriguez's children were living in.
34-year-old Rodriguez is facing a murder charge in the death of her 5-year-old son Jordan Rodriguez. Court documents say she told police she and her boyfriend buried the boy after finding him unresponsive. Her boyfriend, Christopher Rodriguez, is now also facing a murder charge, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
WEWS reports the children — ages 1 to 12 — were found in "deplorable and unsanitary" conditions after Jordan's body was discovered. Authorities said the home was filled with rats and cockroaches. One of the children was reportedly seen eating a sandwich with cockroaches in it.
Prosecutors say Carabello would report to the home, but rather than inspecting the inside, she would "look the other way" and accept food stamp cards from Larissa Rodriguez. Authorities say Caraballo purchased the food stamps, meant to feed the children, for 50 cents on the dollar.
"This food stamp transaction is a bribe," O'Malley said. "[Caraballo] was being bribed to look the other way."
This fraud allegedly went on from July 2015 to December 2017.
Cleveland.com reports Caraballo was assigned to visit the Rodriguez home once a month since at least 2014. She had a mandatory requirement to report abuse or neglect, O'Malley said.
Rodriguez and Caraballo have been charged with illegal use of food stamps, grand theft telecommunications fraud, money laundering and bribery.
Caraballo was also charged with 12 counts of tampering with government records.
O'Malley said additional charges will be considered if a medical examiner determines malnourishment played a role in how Jordan died.