WPRO News and The Associated Press

Rhode Island child welfare authorities say a 4-year-old Middletown boy who died over the summer was a victim of “maltreatment.”

The state Department of Children, Youth & Families disclosed the June 10 death for the first time on Wednesday.

An investigation was started in June.

While the boy’s family had prior involvement with the agency, the child and his legal guardian had not.

The agency has notified the Office of the Child Advocate.

Police in Middletown later disclosed they responded along with Middletown Fire and Rescue to the Oxbow Farms housing complex at about 10:00 A.M. on June 10, and took an unresponsive male infant to Newport Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Middletown Police, the Rhode Island Attorney General, Medical Examiner and DCYF were continuing to investigate the case.

The Department of Children, Youth & Families has come under fire recently in part over the January death of a 9-year-old special needs girl who was in foster care. The Office of the Child Advocate issued a report in June blaming the agency’s ineptitude and inaction for the girl’s death.