LA counselor who didn’t report child abuse gets probation

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A contracted Los Angeles County counselor who failed to report suspected abuse of two young boys who later died has received four years of probation from a state licensing board. The Board of Behavioral Sciences also requires Barbara Dixon, a licensed marriage and family therapist, to participate in psychotherapy, law and ethics training, and coursework in child abuse assessment. The board had formally accused Dixon last year of failing to report allegations of abuse of Gabriel Fernandez in 2013 and Anthony Avalos in 2015. The boys’ deaths spotlighted egregious lapses in the region’s child welfare system.