Foster mother calls for criminal investigation into DCS after boy’s murder

LaPorte, Ind. – A foster mother is calling for an “independent criminal investigation” into the Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) employees who handled her foster son’s case.

Judah Morgan, 4, was brutally beaten, tortured and murdered by his biological father Alan Morgan on October 11, 2021 at the family home in LaPorte County.

Judah’s foster mother, Jenna Hullett, filed a federal lawsuit against three DCS employees, alleging they conducted “sham investigations” and their actions caused the death of her foster son, Judah Morgan.

Hullett has also filed a lawsuit in Hendricks County against Judah’s biological father, Alan Morgan. DCS was also added as a party to the case.

Both lawsuits are still pending.

In a May 7 email to DCS attorneys, Hullett’s attorney, Charlie Rice, said he wanted police to open a criminal investigation into the DCS employees who handled Judah’s case.

“My client is publicly demanding that the director of DCS initiate an independent criminal investigation into the handling of Judah’s case,” Rice said in an email to DCS attorneys. “Given DCS’s inherently contradictory position, my client further requests that this investigation be led by the Office of the Indiana Inspector General and conducted by the Indiana State Police.”

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WRTV Investigates is working to obtain a response from DCS, its attorneys and the Indiana State Police.

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“If the director of DCS declines to commission an independent investigation led by the Indiana Inspector General, I would ask DCS to allow my office to release documents created by DCS and designated in the state as ‘confidential’ to the Sheriff’s Office from LaPorte County “that they can take the lead in conducting an appropriate investigation,” Rice said in his email to DCS.

Rice also said DCS “made no effort to conduct an internal or independent investigation” into the allegations set forth by Hullett in her lawsuits.

He said he worries about other children in the child welfare system.

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“Regardless of the outcome of the civil cases against Judah Morgan, more children will suffer and die if DCS continues to tolerate the individual and collective misconduct that led to Judah’s death,” Rice said in an email to WRTV. “The recent deaths of other children in the DCS system highlight the need for immediate reform of DCS, holding individuals to account and showing more concern for protecting children than protecting themselves.”

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Hullett’s federal lawsuit accuses DCS employees of a “reckless and willful indifference and willful disregard of their duties” that failed Judah Morgan and led to his torture and death.

“No DCS internal investigators or Indiana State Police investigators have contacted me or my client regarding these allegations,” Rice said in an email to DCS attorneys. “Rather, it appears that the only action DCS has taken in the last six months in connection with Judah Morgan’s death is to protect itself by seeking absolute immunity for civil damages caused by Judah’s death became.”

DCS filed a motion to dismiss Hullett’s lawsuit on Feb. 15.

Jenna Hullett

The Hendricks County Court heard arguments on May 1, but the judge made no decision and accepted the matter for deliberation.

In the federal case, DCS filed a motion on April 10 asking that the case against Dreessen, Stowers and Goebel be dismissed on the grounds that they “are entitled to qualified immunity because the DCS defendants have not violated any clearly established constitutional rights.” “.

Judah’s mother, Mary Yoder, was also convicted of neglect of a dependent resulting in death.

Judah’s foster mother, Jenna Hullett, named the following DCS employees in the lawsuit filed October 9, 2023 in the U.S. District Court Northern District of Indiana:

• Jean Dreessen, family case manager
• Michele Stowers, Family Case Manager Supervisor
• Michelle Goebel, director of the LaPorte County DCS

Goebel supervised Dreessen and Stowers. Stowers supervised Dreessen, the lawsuit says.
The complaint accuses DCS employees of a “reckless and willful indifference and willful disregard of their duties” that failed Judah Morgan and led to his torture and death.

“Goebel and Stowers were aware of Dreessen’s misconduct and facilitated, condoned, tolerated and otherwise turned a blind eye to Dreessen’s misconduct,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit accuses DCS staff of “conducting sham investigations, downplaying or declaring as unfounded family members’ allegations and concerns of abuse and neglect” and failing to conduct court-ordered drug tests for Judah’s parents.

When Judah was born in 2017, he had drugs in his system and his birth mother tested positive for drugs, according to the lawsuit.

In 2017, Judah’s biological parents had substantiated allegations of neglect and abuse against Judah’s older brother.

DCS took Judah into custody at the hospital and he became a ward of DCS.

When he was four months old, Judah Morgan was placed with his foster mother, Jenna Hullett.

Six months before his murder, in April 2021, Judah was placed with his biological parents for the first time.

The three DCS employees knew Judah was subjected to physical abuse or severe neglect, the lawsuit says.

“In addition to Alan Morgan’s history of domestic violence, DCS knew that Alan Morgan was a ‘hothead’ with a record of abuse and neglect and a chronic drug user, but never sought a psychological evaluation of Alan Morgan prior to the closure of the CHINS (Child In Need) of.” Services) case,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit alleges that the three DCS employees failed to conduct drug tests on either of their birth parents in the five months prior to the completion of the case – a violation of DCS policy and a court order.

The three DCS employees are also accused of providing false and/or misleading information to Judah’s Court Appointed Special Counsel (CASA) in order to force closure of Judah’s case.

When the federal lawsuit was filed, WRTV Investigates reached out to the employees and DCS for comment.

“DCS cannot comment on pending litigation,” an agency spokesperson said in an email to WRTV.

Dreessen, Stowers and Goebel still work for DCS, according to online state records.

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