Documents in Kalab Lay's Case Released

A child abuse case, resulting in 3 year old Kalab Lays death, is open to the public. The Indiana Director of Child Services, Jim Payne, says Illinois officials are to blame for letting the toddler back into his parents abusive home. A judge released Kalabs file, a stack of papers 2290 pages thick. They detail the history of his short life, everything from his parents criminal history to the Illinois family case workers notes that were taken when she visited their Evansville home. Payne says Kalabs case is unique because it deals with courts from both Illinois and Indiana. He says Kalab was not in the custody of parents, Amanda Brooks or Terry Lay for the majority of his life. Illinois courts requested to put Kalab into his parents custody in 2006 and 2007; both requests were denied. In January, 2008, an Illinois judge placed the toddler in their Indiana home, without the permission or approval of Indiana DCS. On March 4, a request was made by Indiana officials to take the child back to Illinois. About a month later, the child was beaten to death. Some elected officials were at a meeting put on by an Evansville resident who has hopes of getting a new law passed to protect other abused children. Its called Kalabs Law. Now, CPS representatives say the time turned out to be the biggest piece out of all of this. They too will be working to tighten laws, requiring deadlines on getting children out of the custody of unfit parents sooner.