DETROIT – It’s a desperate push to loosen confidentiality rules around Child Protective Services records in Michigan, arguing the change is necessary to prevent deaths like that of 5-year-old Ethan Belcher of Detroit.
Ethan’s family, attorneys and now lawmakers say warning signs were ignored before he was tortured and killed.
“CPS is a crash and burn disaster in the state of Michigan,” said Republican Senator Jim Runestad. “Despite documented abuse, hospitalizations, severe bruising and the family warnings, CPS returned Ethan to his parents.”
Ethan died in January of 2023 after what is described as “severe abuse and torture.” Ethan’s cause of death was “multiple blunt and sharp force injuries with complications,” according to two lawsuits filed -- one against the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the other against CPS workers Miranda Ostrowski and Tedra White.
Ethan’s parents, Valerie Lynn Hamilton, Ethan’s biological mother, and Shane Robert Shelton, his stepfather, were charged with felony torture and child abuse. Both were later convicted of torture and murder.
Sen. Runestad said the Belcher case was among the most heartbreaking and horrendous he has encountered and that most people cannot read the report because “you will be physically sick -- you will be shaking reading it.”
“The torture was like a gruesome concentration camp. An unbelievable type of torture,” Runestad said. “How does this child get tortured and beat head to toe and returning back and back to the same people that did this? How?” he said.
Attorney Zachary Runyan told Local 4 that when Ethan’s body was found, “he had a broken neck, he had a fractured skull -- they found signs of sexual abuse.”
“Anytime I read these reports, I have to hold back tears. We need to make sure that justice is served for both Ethan and his brother,” he previously told Local 4.
Runestad, who promoted Senate Bill 605, described it as a reintroduction of Senate Bill 53, which would allow legislators to access CPS case information after signing a memorandum of understanding agreeing not to disclose personal information.
“The bill will allow legislators to get involved with these cases,” he said. “Currently, we can’t get any information.”
He said only the committee chair overseeing CPS can obtain information now and argued the public and media are effectively shut out.
“There’s a complete silence -- there’s a complete censorship of information, and the public has a right to know,” he said. “We as legislators and you, the media, have a right to know what is going on in CPS.”
Runyan, who spoke to Local 4 after the news conference, said lack of access to CPS records also makes it difficult to scrutinize the agency’s actions before litigation.
“I’m iced out,” he said. “The only way I can try to get it prior to filing litigation is through a FOIA request and CPS won’t respond to those.”
Runyan and Ethan’s aunt also continue to blame CPS for failing to remove the children from the home earlier, calling Ethan’s death one “that should have never happened.”
“CPS knew that there was abuse going on,” Runyan said. “Ethan and all of his siblings should have been taken out of the house long, long before Ethan died.”
Ashley Belcher said she reported concerns to authorities in 2021 and was ignored. She said her goal now is to help other children, save lives, and aim “for a change in all areas in the CPS system.”
“If you see something, say something -- I was his only voice at that time,” she said. “These children have lost their lives at the hands of their abusers and it’s all because of CPS. CPS needs to do it better job. We love Ethan and we miss him -- God rest his little soul.”
A recently released report from Michigan’s Office of the Child Advocate detailed failures by CPS and Lincoln Park Police during the 2021 investigation. The report found that neither agency consulted a medical child abuse expert to confirm injuries were non-accidental, and that no official photographs of injuries were taken, with agencies relying on low-quality images provided by Ashley Belcher. The report also cited inaccuracies in a police report and a lack of follow-up after the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office returned a warrant packet for further investigation.
Runestad called for accountability from CPS workers involved in the earlier decisions and said he has seen no urgency from Lansing during years of trying to change the system.
“By God. Does anyone in the legislature care? Does anyone at CPS care? Does the Governor care?” Runestad said. “In my experience for the last three years, trying to reform this, they don’t care.”
Local 4 reached out to MDHHS, the Michigan Democratic Party and Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s office, and we are waiting to hear back. However, MDHHS told Local 4 on Jan. 16, that it had not been served with the lawsuit and that it does not comment on pending litigation. They also called Ethan’s death a “profound tragedy” and said the department is “committed to working with partners across the child welfare system.”,