As prosecutors seek to obtain a report that probed the actions of Illinois Department of Children and Family Services employees in charge of 5-year-old AJ Freund’s case, the agency that generated the report is taking steps to derail their efforts.

The McHenry County State’s Attorney’s office is seeking the report, generated as part of an investigation by the department’s Office of Inspector General, which looked into Freund’s former DCFS caseworker Carlos Acosta, 54, and his supervisor Andrew Polovin, 48.

On Thursday, Michelle Camp, an attorney for the Department of Children and Family Services’ Office of Inspector General, told McHenry County Judge Robert Wilbrandt her office would be filing a motion based on the Garrity Law in response to the state’s subpoena filed in November.

The Garrity Law protects public employees from being compelled to incriminate themselves during investigatory interviews conducted by their employers. This is a protection which stems from the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution that declares the government cannot compel a person to be a witness against him or herself, according to garrityrights.org.

The comments from Camp, who is an assistant attorney general for the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, came during a hearing in Acosta’s case Thursday. Polovin’s case was continued to a new date on Tuesday.

Both Polovin and Acosta were involved in an investigation regarding a large bruise on AJ Freund’s hip about four months before the boy died at the hands of his parents.

At the conclusion of the Inspector General’s investigation both were fired from their jobs and, in a rare turn, each has been subsequently charged criminally in Freund’s death. Both have pleaded not guilty.

The state’s subpoena, which should have been complied with in court by Thursday, states that prosecutors are seeking “any and all records, reports or documents pertaining to a DCFS investigation … including all recorded interviews written statements and all notes related to this report/investigation.”

Prosecutors also are seeking a copy of the federal consent decree, which details rules the DCFS employees must follow including caseloads.

Camp must file her motion by Jan. 7, and the state is to file their response by Jan. 21 and oral arguments are scheduled for Jan. 29.

Both of AJ’s parents, 37-year-old JoAnn D. Cunningham and 61-year-old Andrew Freund Sr., have pleaded guilty to charges tied to their son’s death.

Cunningham was sentenced in July to 35 years in prison for first-degree murder in connection with the boy’s death. Freund accepted a plea deal in September and was sentenced to 30 years in prison for aggravated battery of a child, involuntary manslaughter and concealment of a homicidal death.