Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect that Steven Brey was not charged with distributing child pornography. CityView Today regrets the error.
Cumberland County and employees of its Department of Social Services are being sued for keeping a child in foster care for almost five years based on allegedly false statements from a Fayetteville psychologist who was later censured by the state board, according to court documents.
The suit, which was first filed in Cumberland County on Aug. 7, alleges the psychologist, Shenae Whitehead; her former practice, Heart to Heart Counseling and Wellness Center; Whitehead’s current practice, Pure Restoration Wellness Center; Cumberland County; and unnamed employees with the Department of Social Services were “grossly negligent” in delaying the child’s reunification with her mother in the wake of child pornography charges against her father.
The case stems from the Oct. 25, 2017, arrest of Steven Brey, who then taught as an associate professor of religion at Methodist University. Brey was charged with 18 counts of second-degree exploitation of a minor related to a June 2015 incident where he shared multiple videos with an undercover Cary Police Department detective of boys as young as 6 engaging in sexual activities, according to a December 2017 article from The Fayetteville Observer. Brey pleaded guilty on Dec. 15, 2017, to three charges of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and was sentenced to three years of probation by Wake County Superior Court Judge Kendra Hill, court records show.
Two days after Brey’s arrest, his then-5-year-old daughter was removed from the home he shared with his wife and placed in foster care under the supervision of the Department of Social Services, the complaint states. CityView is choosing not to name Brey’s wife to protect the identity of their daughter.
Faith Fox, who is representing Brey and his wife, said Tuesday her clients were not given a clear explanation as to why their daughter could not be returned to her mother.
“There has not ever been a reason given for that,” she said.
According to the complaint, the Cumberland County Dept. of Social Services retained Whitehead’s family therapy and counseling services for Brey’s wife and their child. At the time, Whitehead worked out of Heart to Heart Counseling and Wellness Center, which no longer exists, the complaint states.
“Plaintiff Brey immediately offered to sign a release of information to allow Defendant Whitehead to communicate with his counselor,” the complaint says. “Defendant Whitehead responded by reporting to the court that Mr. Brey’s counselor and attorney were ‘harassing’ her.”
At that point, the complaint states, Brey’s wife asked the Department of Social Services to refer the family to a different counselor.
“However, the request was denied as Defendant Whitehead refused,” the complaint alleges.
In the 51 days between Brey’s arrest and his sentencing in court, the complaint states, the child remained in foster care, with her mother regularly visiting her and following all recommendations and requests made by the Department of Social Services. By the time of Brey’s guilty plea, he and his wife had separated and no longer lived together, but their daughter was not returned to her mother’s custody, according to the complaint.
On July 7, 2020, almost three years after Brey’s sentencing, in the lead-up to a September court hearing regarding a final decision on the custody of the child, Whitehead allegedly wrote a letter to the court recommending the girl remain in foster care, the complaint states.
“In support of her recommendations, Defendant Whitehead made numerous negative, harmful and false statements regarding the personalities and psychosocial attributes of [the mother] and Brey,” the complaint says. “At no time has Defendant Whitehead conducted interviews, evaluations or assessments of [the mother] or Steven Brey, as individuals or as the parents of minor child.”
Whitehead’s letter was introduced as evidence during an Aug. 6, 2020, hearing, and she reportedly testified to the contents of the letter in court, the complaint states.
“During testimony, Defendant Whitehead continued to make inflammatory statements directed at Plaintiffs’ personalities and psychosocial attributes, without a basis or foundation for the statements,” the complaint says. “ ... Relying upon the assertions contained in Defendant Whitehead’s aforementioned letter, as well as her testimony during the hearing, the Social Worker for [the Department of Social Services] incorporated Defendant Whitehead’s unsubstantiated statements into a Permanency Planning Report.”
The report ultimately recommended the child permanently remain in the Department of Social Services’ custody, according to the complaint. On Nov. 25, 2020, the court ordered the child remain in the department’s custody and banned her mother from continuing therapy with her daughter. The court also limited the child’s mother to one-hour weekly visits at the Department of Social Services and 30-minute weekly telephone calls supervised by a social worker. The child was ordered to continue therapy with Whitehead, the complaint alleges.
Following the ruling, Brey and his wife complained about Whitehead’s alleged statements to the Department of Social Services and the Cumberland County Juvenile Court, according to the suit, which alleges that the department never investigated their complaint and continued to refer Whitehead to families and children. The pair also complained to the North Carolina Psychology Board, which sent Whitehead a letter on Aug. 23, 2021, informing her that they believed she was guilty of several ethical and legal violations stemming from the case.
According to the board’s letter, in Whitehead’s letter to the court, she allegedly referred to the mother as “very passive and codependent” and speculated that Brey “is likely narcissistic or has some sort of personality that exerts control over” the mother.
“These statements… were made without assessing with [the mother] or her husband,” the board’s letter says. “In addition, you did not provide data as to how you reached these conclusions.”
The board’s letter also claims that on Aug. 6, 2020, Whitehead testified in the court case surrounding the little girl’s custody and “made statements that [the mother] and her husband were engaged in a codependent relationship, despite not having evaluated either of them and despite this information not being included in any of the previous psychological evaluations.”
The board’s letter claims that Whitehead made statements that she believed Brey may have intended to sexually abuse his daughter, but had no evidence of this and said it was “just a gut feeling.” Whitehead also allegedly testified that Brey should have been described as higher risk than he was in an evaluation by another mental health professional, according to the board’s letter.
“As part of your testimony, you provided information that was not within your knowledge base and that was not based on factual evidence or your clinical opinion,” the board’s letter says.
On Nov. 4, 2021, Whitehead agreed to a censure of her license due to the violations in the case, according to documentation from the North Carolina Psychology Board. The board ordered her to complete at least six to eight hours of lessons on the ethical and legal statutes she violated and undergo board supervision for at least a year or 1,500 hours of practice.
Following the censure, on Sept. 9, 2022, Brey and his wife presented the board’s filings to the juvenile court, which subsequently granted custody of the child to her mother after almost five years of separation, according to the complaint.
“Minor Child was forced to remain in foster care, from October 2017 through September 2022, without just cause,” the complaint states.
Whitehead was censured by the North Carolina Psychology Board again on Feb. 20, 2023, for ethical and legal violations involving at least four other clients, according to board documentation. She was ordered to undergo at least two years or 3,000 practice hours of supervision and was fined $300, according to a consent order from the board.
The suit alleges that in the wake of these complaints, the Department of Social Services continued to refer families and children to Whitehead.
Brey and his wife are requesting a jury trial and damages in excess of $25,000, to be determined by the jury, according to the complaint.
Fox said specific employees have not been named in the suit because she is trying to determine which employees had the most liability in the case.
“There were two people, a man and a woman, who had a pretty strong hand in the case, even before Whitehead got on,” she said.
Fox said she believes Whitehead continues to work with families and children.
“My understanding is that she is currently contracted to work with five different counties in North Carolina and she is still working with families through DSS in each of those counties, including Cumberland,” Fox said.
Lawyers for Whitehead and Cumberland County did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
Lexi Solomon can be reached at lsolomon@cityviewnc.com or 910-423-6500.
