The arrest of Dr. Stephen Leedy on child exploitation charges and the resignation of his wife, Lynda Leedy, from Florida’s Juvenile Welfare Board expose a chilling contradiction. Families are scrutinized and penalized for poverty while those in power are shielded by silence. This case lays bare the hypocrisy of child welfare institutions and their systemic failure to protect children.

A shocking case in Waterbury exposed decades of abuse hidden in plain sight. A man held captive since childhood was discovered after setting fire to his home, forcing attention on failures by Connecticut’s DCF. Teachers and neighbors had raised alarms for years, yet the system erased records and ignored warnings. This tragedy joins a pattern of preventable child deaths and neglect cases that reveal a child protection agency in crisis.

The preventable death of 14-year-old David Almond exposes the catastrophic failures of Massachusetts DCF and the broken child protection system meant to keep children safe.