Investigative Report in Kentucky Reveals Corruption Still Exists in Foster Care as Children Die or Go Missing

The corruption in Kentucky Child Protection Services and Foster Care has been reported on extensively here at Health Impact News since 2015. A new report aired on Wave 3 News by investigative journalist John Boel reveals that corruption in the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services is apparently ongoing, as one child was allegedly murdered by his foster parent after being taken away from his family, and another foster parent is blowing the whistle on the abuses of Kentucky foster care where children go missing due to lack of oversight. The current investigation began in 2017, when 4-year-old Hunter Payton died in foster care, and his biological parents questioned the story put forward as to the cause of his death, which was reported to be an accident. “They told us it was an ‘unlikely’ injury,” Hunter’s mother April Payton said. “It doesn’t happen. Something hit him hard.” He had only been in foster care for 3 months. During that time, the parents allegedly complained to the state about bruising on their son, and they were apparently told several different stories about how he died in an accidental fall. As John Boel reports: "Months after our report, Billy Embry-Martin, 33, was charged with murder. The lawsuit accuses him and his husband, Travis Embry-Martin, of 'violent punishment, physical abuse and denial of food.' Billy Embry-Martin is free on bond awaiting a December trial on the murder charge."