Thomas Valva Case: Suffolk County Social Services Commissioner Makes First Public Comments Since Boy's Death

CENTER MORICHES, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — There's new fallout after an NYPD officer was charged with the murder of his 8-year-old son on Long Island.

On Tuesday, Suffolk County's social services commissioner made her first public comments since Thomas Valva's death. Meanwhile, strangers by the hundreds have reached out to the boy's mother.

Thomas had been deprived of food and subjected to sleeping in an unheated garage as punishments, say police, for bed-wetting and, it is alleged, for failure to follow his NYPD father's strict directives.

As Michael Valva and fiancee Angela Pollina convinced courts to grant them sole custody, Justyna Zubko-Valva obtained audio of her three sons and posted it on social media.

Judges declined to entire this into evidence.

In the audio, a man asks, "Who do you love? Who do you want to stay with? Who do you miss? Who do you want to live with?"

After each question, the children say, "Daddy and Angela."

The man then says, "Mommy is mean. Mommy hits me. Mommy don't touch me." The children repeat, "Mommy is mean. Mommy hits me. Mommy don't touch me."

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Child advocate groups back the authenticity of the tapes. Thomas and his brother, Anthony, were used as pawns, claims their mother, who recorded the children describing life with their father.

"I would get a time out again," one child says.

"How long?" Zubko-Valva asks.

"100 days," the child says.

"100 days?" Zubko-Valva says.

"He said I can't go to sleep and I can't eat breakfast and I can't go to you," the child says.

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CBS2 asked Suffolk's Department of Social Services commissioner for a sit-down interview and was told, "I'm not sure yet."

Frances Pierre, appointed less than a year ago, told members of a CPS task force she is unable to publicly discuss Thomas Valva's case but said more workers will be hired.

"We're doing active recruiting. We're also working with civil service," Pierre said. "We've really been doing a lot of work in ensuring that we're decreasing caseload."

Lawmakers challenged the DSS commissioner: a big house with a cop dad does not mean a child is safe. She said CPS workers know not to judge a book by its cover.

In:
• Angela Pollina