The investigation into a 12-year-old girl’s death is now touching schools, child welfare and state policy debates.
ENFIELD, Conn. — A Connecticut child death case reached court Monday, but the fallout has already spread well beyond the criminal charges against Anthony Federline, the Enfield stepfather accused of sexually assaulting 12-year-old Eve Rogers before she was found dead in the family home.
Federline, 39, was scheduled for arraignment in Hartford Superior Court after Enfield police charged him with first-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a child. While the court hearing marks the formal start of the criminal case, the investigation has also drawn attention to child welfare oversight, homeschooling rules and the screening of adults who work around students. Authorities have not yet announced Eve’s cause of death, and that unanswered question continues to hover over every other development.
The known timeline begins on March 18, when Enfield police were called to the family’s home for an unresponsive girl. Officers found Eve dead on the floor of her bedroom. Accounts from the arrest warrant say her mother told police the girl had locked herself in her room the night before, which was not unusual, and did not respond the next morning. After opening the door, the mother found her daughter face down and called for help. Police said pills were found in the room, along with an open laptop, and the child was pronounced dead at the scene.
What turned the case from a sudden death investigation into a felony sexual assault prosecution were details observed after officers and the medical examiner examined the body. Published accounts of the warrant say the girl was found naked from the waist down or with her lower body partly covered, and that the medical examiner later noted signs of vaginal penetration. A sexual assault kit found male DNA on the child’s body, according to those reports. Investigators then collected DNA swabs from relatives, including Federline, and concluded his DNA was likely present. Police have not said publicly whether the juvenile named in the sexual assault charges is Eve, but they have said the charges came out of the same investigation.
The case has stirred a particularly sharp reaction in Enfield because Federline was not just a family member under investigation. He was also a bus driver connected to Enfield Public Schools through Smyth Bus Company, the district’s transportation provider. Superintendent Steven Moccio said Federline was fired immediately after his arrest. Company officials said he had passed state and national criminal background checks and a review of the DCF abuse and neglect registry before being hired. The company also said he had worked there for about six months. That has left school leaders trying to reassure families while acknowledging that a standard vetting process did not flag any prior criminal history.
The Department of Children and Families is also involved, though publicly in a limited way. Agency spokesperson Ken Mysogland said DCF is investigating both the girl’s death and the allegations of child sexual abuse. The agency declined to say whether it had previous contact with the family. At the same time, CT Mirror reported that Eve had been homeschooled since 2022, a fact that quickly entered the political response. State Rep. John Santanella of Enfield said the case has exposed possible gaps that allow vulnerable children to fall out of view. He tied the case to a broader fight over House Bill 5468, saying lawmakers should narrow and strengthen child-safety protections without broadly burdening families who homeschool in good faith.
That debate gives the case a larger public meaning. In court, the questions are likely to focus first on probable cause, bond and the specific felony counts. Outside court, officials and residents are now asking how warning signs are detected, which systems are supposed to act and what records existed before March 18. School officials have offered counseling support. Police Chief Alaric Fox said the case is deeply disturbing for the community. Yet some of the most important facts are still missing, especially the medical examiner’s findings and any fuller account of the child’s recent contact with state or local agencies.
As Monday’s arraignment approached, the criminal file and the public debate were moving on separate tracks. Federline remained held on a $1 million bond, prosecutors were preparing to present the charges, and investigators were still waiting for toxicology results that could help explain how Eve Rogers died. Until those findings are released, the Enfield case is likely to remain both a prosecution and a test of public institutions.
Author note: Last updated April 6, 2026.