Seth Ireland's Father Confronts C.P.S.

The father of a Fresno boy beaten to death confronted the county Tuesday morning. After he said C.P.S. didn't do its job.In light of the beating death of 10-year old Seth Ireland, Supervisor Henry Perea wanted to discuss how a new law could help the board improve child protective services. But at the meeting, Seth Ireland's father publicly criticized the handling of Seth's case and said the head of Child Protective Services should have resigned.

Joe Hudson read from a prepared statement with his mother standing by his side. The Board of Supervisors was advised to not speak about any specific case because Hudson has hired a lawyer and is planning to file a lawsuit against C.P.S.

Hudson said he was forbidden from being at the side of Seth's hospital bed before he died and criticized the handling of the case. "In some instances facts were incorrectly stated and names were obviously switched in error by the 25-year old social worker working this case. This is very alarming and sends clear flags of negligence," said Hudson.

Hudson criticized the head of C.P.S., Catherine Huerta, for not expressing her condolences to him and is family over Seth's death.

Huerta said she's had no discussions with Hudson and was giving him space to grieve. She said she's open to suggestions and reviews of policies.

A new law allows the Board of Supervisors to look over private C.P.S. files during closed sessions. They plan on doing that today with Seth's case and hope it will lead to better policies for the county.