PUYALLUP, Wash. - Department of Social and Health Services today released details of an internal review on how the agency handled the case of a 12-year-old Puyallup boy who allegedly suffered years of abuse by relatives.

The boy had been allegedly abused for years by his paternal father and step-grandmother, Remil and Loni Venegas, and was removed from their home earlier this month. DSHS handled numerous referrals in the case, but a panel looking into why the boy wasn't removed earlier revealed DSHS had missed opportunities to protect the child.

"The bottom line for us is that the system failed for a reason - we did not respond appropriately to a child in danger," said DSHS Secretary Robin Arnold-Williams, who last week directed the agency's Children's Administration to produce the review.

She says disciplinary action will be taken against some DSHS employees, although legally, she can not yet disclose who.

"My commitment was, and remains, to hold the system and individuals in it accountable," she said.

CPS chose to leave the boy in the care of his paternal grandparents after his mother died in a car accident six years ago. Officials say the boy suffered horrific abuse, mostly at the hands of his step grandmother, when he lived with his grandparents in their Puyallup home.

The accusations include bruises on the boy's face, a tooth knocked out of his mouth, an allegation that Loni Venegas sliced his legs with a fork and poured vinegar on the wounds, beat him with bamboo sticks and forced him to mop up urine with the clothes he was wearing. 

A review by a 14-member panel representing all DSHS regions concluded that four of the eight referrals the agency received about the boy in 2004 and 2005 were incorrectly handled and should have led to a CPS investigation of the case. Four should also have been sent to law enforcement but were not. 

In 2007, a new referral was quickly made about the boy, quickly followed by seven additional referrals. A safety plan that was designed for the child that kept him with his grandfather in a trailer behind the home was found by the panel to be unacceptable.

"The safety plan was insufficient, yet was approved by those with supervisory responsibility. It relied upon the follow through by the grandparents who were the alleged abusers," said Arnold Williams.

Neighbors say they witnessed a pattern of abuse, their stories similar to those found in court papers.  

"We're all disgusted around here, number one that it took so long," said Gene Breedlove, neighbor. 

The released report comes as the boy's maternal grandparents seek custody of the boy, who is now in foster care.

The boy's maternal grandmother and step-grandmother will meet with CPS, along with the boy's father, who reportedly hasn't seen his son in years.