Two former Illinois child welfare employees arrested in connection with the death of AJ Freund

Both are charged with two felony counts of endangering the life of a child and one felony count of reckless conduct, according to court records. CNN affiliate WLS reported the indictments of the two men said the DCFS workers committed failures that were a “proximate cause of AJ Freund’s death.”

A pathologist found he died from head trauma due to blunt force injuries, according to a coroner’s report.

DCFS released a summary of its records, reports and documents showed the agency had numerous encounters with the family, including 17 unannounced visits between June 2015 and March 2016. At the time, the worker did not observe signs of abuse or neglect, DFCS said.

Freund’s father, Andrew “Drew” Freund Sr., is awaiting trial and a status hearing in his case is scheduled for September 16, according to court records.

The Illinois Office of the Inspector General said in its annual report, released this past January, that investigators from DFCS “ignored the parents’ long history of addiction, the mother’s recent relapse, and the parents’ isolation of the children from caring relatives and day care providers.”

A spokesperson for DCFS confirmed to CNN that both men are no longer employed by the organization but declined to give any additional comment.

Acosta is a member of the McHenry County Board. Board Chairman Jack Franks said in a statement released Friday that he asked Acosta to step down. State law doesn’t give the board or the voters the ability to remove Acosta from office, Franks said, adding that “the overwhelming sentiment would be for him to step down.”

“With the charges filed against him, Mr. Acosta cannot continue to be an effective member of the County Board,” Franks said in a Friday statement. “We spoke this morning and I encouraged him to resign. My opinion is not based on his innocence or guilt, which is up to the court to decide, but his ability to represent the citizens of County Board District 5 with these charges being filed.”

Franks called for an overhaul to the child welfare system “to ensure that this tragedy never happens again, as well as the need to hold people accountable if they were negligent in their duty.”