CANADA Cases

Judge: Child porn is a 'crime of choice'
28 January 2011

A 21-year-old man was sentenced Thursday to one-year in jail after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography at Medicine Hat Provincial Court.

"This is a gross abuse of children in our society," said Judge Ted Fisher in sentencing Devin Wayne Resener, adding that it was a "crime of choice."

Resener was also handed a three-year probation order which will ban the man from owning a computer or accessing the Internet except for work purposes.
He will also be prohibited from contacting any child under the age of 16 without prior approval from a probation officer.

In a separate prohibition order, Resener has been banned for five years from any public space such as a school, park, playground or swimming pool where there is likely to be children younger than 16.

Resener will also be required to be registered on the national sex offender list for 10 years and to submit a DNA sample.

Police charge man in 1990 rape

It was a cold February evening 21 years ago when Brian Begbie, then a young Kingston Police patrol officer, arrived at the scene of a horrific rape and brutalization of a nine-year-old girl.

In a crime that is every parent's nightmare, the girl was snatched at random near her Macdonnell Street home in the early evening hours of Feb. 20, 1990, by a man she didn't know and who did not know her.

He drove her to a dark place in another part of Kingston where he raped her, brandished weapons and threatened her and her family with death.

"I remember it like it was yesterday," Begbie said yesterday at the same time that Richard James Joyce, 44, was standing up up in provincial court downtown to have 12 charges arising from that night read to him.

"I will never forget it."

Paul Tohill, now retired, was then a young detective. He investigated the crime and it stayed close enough to him that upon his retirement, he made sure that other detectives were briefed on the case and would continue working it.

The case stuck in the minds of everyone who worked on it, not to mention a shocked city that believed such things could never happen here. Police don't take any crime more seriously than a sex crime on a child.

Friday they charged the man they believe did it: Joyce, who is serving a life sentence for his involvement in another high-profile crime, the robbery and murder at the Nozzles Gas Bar in 1991.

Every year he was on the force, Tohill remembered meeting the girl's mother on the anniversary of the rape.

Tohill could do little more than assure her the police had not given up on the case and any new leads or evidence would be taken seriously.

The young girl had been home with her mother that night watching movies. She convinced her mother to let her buy a bag of chips at a nearby convenience store at around 6 p.m.

She was walking home on Macdonnell near the intersection of Scott Street when she was accosted by a lone man, pushed into a car and driven to a secluded area.

"She was almost home," veteran sex-crime investigator Staff Sgt. Carolyn Rice said Friday.

The youngster was returned to the neighbourhood, dropped off several blocks from her house by her assailant later that night.

Before he let the terrified and injured child go, the man vowed to kill her and her mother if either one said anything to police.

With little physical evidence and no real crime scene, police did not find the man or the vehicle in which the crimes took place.

When he cleared out his desk for the last time, Tohill reminded his fellow officers that there was still DNA evidence from the case in secure storage. It had been fruitlessly tested in 1990, when DNA fingerprinting was still in its infancy.

When it was sent back to a crime lab in Toronto in November, it came back with one of the two sweetest findings a detective can receive: identifiable DNA.

That, of course, is no good at all unless police have someone to compare it to, but as Joyce was by then in the national DNA database, a subsequent search produced the second-sweetest result for a police investigator: a match.

Tohill came back out of retirement for Friday's news conference and he had difficulty keeping his emotions under control as he spoke about the case.

Like Begbie, he also remembered every detail of that long-ago case and his voice broke a little as he discussed a random and savage attack on a little girl walking home with a treat on a Tuesday evening.

As years went by, Tohill stayed abreast of the latest breakthroughs in forensic and DNA collection in hopes he would read of a test or a technique app l i cab l e to the case that still chewed at him.

"It's cases like this that wear on me," Tohill said. "To have this behind me after all these years, this is good."

Police are now investigating whether Joyce may have been responsible for any other similar crimes, and whether any other cold cases match the pattern in this one.

Abductions of children by total strangers are incredibly rare, despite the media coverage they generate, and it is unlikely that a person who would commit such a crime had never targeted children, either before or since.

Police Chief Stephen Tanner said the breakthrough was a result of solid police work combined with evolving DNA technology.

"What this says is that we will never give up on a case, no matter the age, whether it happened 20, 30 or 40 years ago," he said, noting the national DNA data - base is growing every day and police can get a DNA hit on a piece of evidence on a Wednesday that they would not have gotten from the same evidence the day before.

Judges can order people to provide a DNA sample upon conviction of a crime, and such samples are mandatory in violent or sexual crimes.

Tanner said technology and the growing DNA bank will continue to break cases that were previously unsolvable and police are taking advantage of it.

"We will continue to look into every cold case and we will continue to investigate them all."

http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2952947

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Killer admits to sex assault on child
Feburary 01, 2011

Richard Charles Joyce, already serving life with no parole eligibility for 25 years for his role in the brutal first-degree murder of Margaret Yvonne Rouleau almost 20 years ago, has admitted to being the sexual predator who attacked a nine-year-old girl, 15 months before the murder.

Joyce, 43, pleaded guilty Monday in Kingston's Ontario Court of Justice to eight of the 11 charges laid against him just last week, all arising out of a previously unsolved case of abduction and sexual assault on a child.

Justice Rommel Masse accepted a joint recommendation from Joyce's lawyer, Brian Callender, and assistant Crown attorney Ross Drummond, sentencing the convicted murderer to 10 years in prison, which out of necessity, must be served concurrently with his pre-existing life sentence.

After hearing the facts, however, Masse told him "your behaviour toward this nine-year-old girl was unspeakably brutal," and added, "I'm at a loss for words to say how I feel."

Joyce admitted, through his guilty pleas, to kidnapping the child; threatening her with death; using a knife in committing a sexual assault on her; beating her with a snow brush; threatening the little girl that he'd kill her mother; sexually touching her; inviting her to touch him sexually; and carrying a knife for the purpose of committing a sexual assault.

Drummond told the judge the crimes were all committed on Feb. 20, 1990, a Tuesday night when The Wizard of Oz was being broadcast on TV.

The child and her mother were planning to watch the classic together and, shortly after 6 p.m. that night, Drummond said the nine-year-old was allowed to take the five-minute walk to a neighbourhood store to buy potato chips.

She was on her way back, walking north on Macdonnell toward Scott Street with her snack, he told the judge, when a man on the sidewalk in front of her appeared to drop his keys on the ground.

As he bent, ostensibly to pick up his keys, the approaching child was manoeuvred into stepping around him, toward the outside of the sidewalk and Drummond said the stranger sprang his ambush, shoving her toward his vehicle, which was parked at the side of the road.

He told Masse the child screamed as she was being abducted. But her abductor -- Joyce as it now turns out -- slapped her hard across the back of the head until she stoppedt.

He then drove her west out of the centre of the city, past a number of landmarks she recognized such as Red Lobster, to a remote location on Woodbine Road.

There, Masse was told, he parked his vehicle, forced her to strip and sexually terrorized her according to the Crown prosecutor.

Drummond said the nine-year-old was told by her abductor that if she didn't co-operate he'd kill her and leave her in a ditch.

Masse heard that he then groped her and raped her twice, anally, while holding the flat of his knife against her throat.

Joyce had equipped himself with a bag of Vaseline to accomplish the crime, the judge heard, and in between attacks on the her, he beat the backs of her legs with a snow brush he had in his vehicle until he raised welts on her skin.

Drummond said she had to ask to use the bathroom after the first attack and he permitted her out of the vehicle to defecate in the snow, told her to use her undershirt to clean herself and then throw it away on the snow bank.

Then he hustled her back into the vehicle attacked her a second time the same way.

He also forced her to perform oral sex on him and tried to rape her vaginally, but couldn't physically accomplish it, even with his bag of vaseline because she was just too little.

The girl's mother had called police around 7 p.m. and reported her daughter missing when she failed to return from the store and couldn't be found.

Drummond told the judge that her assailant, after he finally had his fill of molesting the child, drove her back to her neighbourhood and released her around 8 p.m., but only after he'd threatened the child that he'd kill her and her mother if they talked to police.

Joyce agreed to all of the facts and when asked by Justice Masse if he had anything he wanted to add said "no".

He also later declined the judge's invitation to say anything on the record in his own behalf and sat through the recitation of his crimes with his eyes on the floor.

Defence lawyer Callender noted that his client, until last week, had been on the verge of a hearing to ask for a reduction in his mandatory 25 year parole ineligibility.

He conceded that what Joyce did that February night was "a very heinous and unspeakable crime." But he also observed, in recommending the 10-year sentence to Masse, that when Joyce committed it "he was a person without a record."

Callender also told the judge his client had only learned the extent of the charges against him on Friday, but chose to enter guilty pleas before the final results on his DNA analysis were even completed. Consequently, he said, "I'm urging the court to give Mr. Joyce considerable credit for acknowledging his wrong doing," and not forcing the victim or her mother to testify, notwithstanding that he didn't come forward about the crimes on his own.

Drummond agreed that Joyce was pleading guilty before the Crown was actually in a position to prove its case.

But he suggested the victim would have been spared at least some pain had he admitted his crime while in prison.

She didn't know her attacker was locked up, Drummond observed, so "for 19 years, she's lived with the knowledge that somebody in Kingston did this to her and may still be out there."

Joyce was caught only because his DNA was taken while in prison serving his sentence for first-degree murder. In 1990, when he attacked his young victim, there was no National DNA data bank and even if there had been Joyce, with no criminal record at the time, wouldn't have been included.

It just happened that now retired Det. Paul Tohill never forgot the case and reminded his fellow officers before leaving the force that there was still DNA evidence on it in secure storage.

That evidence was re-submitted to the Centre for Forensic Science last March and they got a hit on Joyce's DNA in the data bank in October, which opened the way to obtain a fresh sample for a full match.

Drummond observed, additionally that while Joyce's criminal record is short the two crimes on it had a major impact on the local community and "changed the city of Kingston."

The murder at Nozzles Gas Bar, "left a hole in the heart of everyone who knew Yvonne Rouleau" he told the judge, and turned a thriving business in the heart of the city into a parking lot. And the abduction of a child in elementary school, minutes from her home, took away the sense of security parents had in their own neighbourhoods.

Directing his remarks to the prisoner, the judge said "Mr. Joyce, I've been a student of criminal law for 35 years and I've been sitting on the bench almost 22 years," and while he admitted it was tempting to believe after that much time that he'd seen the worst, "clearly I haven't seen it all."

Masse characterized Joyce's as "one most brutal sexual assaults" he'd ever heard and in addition to the 10-year sentence, ordered him included on the Sex Offender Information Registry for life and imposed a life-time ban on him frequenting parks, play grounds and other places where children under 14 are or could reasonably expected to congregate as well as a life time weapons ban.

After the sex charges were laid, Joyce, who had cascaded down to a minimum security institution over the years, was sent back to the Millhaven assessment unit where his security rating will be reviewed. It's also expected that the additional 10 year sentence, while it adds no actual years to his sentence, will have an impact on his parole prospects.

http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2955884

Baby found abandoned in hotel

EDMONTON - A mom has been charged after a baby boy was found abandoned in a west Edmonton hotel, say police.

The infant is now in the care of Alberta Child and Family Services.

The mother was charged with willfully causing a child to be in need of protective services after officers responded Friday morning to a report of a baby found abandoned at the Continental Inn on Stony Plain Road and 166 Street.

"It appears that a mother and her newborn baby checked into the hotel earlier in the day. The baby was alone and unsupervised when alert hotel staff found the baby," said police spokesman Chad Orydzuk.

The baby boy is in good condition, he said.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2011/01/28/17073086.html

Sexual Assault Alert,
Man wanted in sexual assault investigation
January 26, 2011

The Toronto Police Service would like to make the public aware of a sexual assault
investigation.
It is reported that:
− on Tuesday, January 25, 2011, at approximately 8 p.m., a 14−year−old boy had been at a library in the Burnhamthorpe Road/The East Mall area when he was befriended by a man,
− the man offered to walk the boy home,
− as the two walked southbound on The East Mall, the man led the boy into The East Mall Park where the man sexually assaulted the boy,
− the boy fled the area,
− the man was last seen near the bus stop on The East Mall, next to the park.

The suspect is described as having a brown complexion, 18−19, 6’, 130 lbs., with brown eyes, dark−brown, short, curly hair and was clean shaven.
He was wearing a white sweater/jacket, blue jeans, and brown leather shoes. He was carrying a backpack/school bag.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Constable Boyd Li at 416−808−7474, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416−222−TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637), or Leave A Tip on Facebook.

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Update, Composite sketch of suspect released
January 28, 2011

Composite sketch of suspect in sexual assault investigation

The Toronto Police Service has requested the public's assistance identifying a man wanted in a sexual assault investigation.

See previous release.

Police have released a composite sketch of the suspect.
For more information on reporting sexual assaults, please click here
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416−808−7474, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416−222−TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637), or Leave A Tip on Facebook.

Mom uses scrub pad to punish child: Police
January 30, 2011

A Barrie mom wound up in police custody Saturday night after police say she punished her nine-year-old child inappropriately.

Police say it became apparent the child had been punished with some of bristle pad because the youngster's hands were all raw and chafed.

Turns out, police say, the mother had used a scrub pad.

The 49-year-old mom was charged with assault and the child was put under the care of the Simcoe County Children's Aid Society.

http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2953813

Hamilton man facing child porn charges

A 69-year-old Hamilton man is facing a slew of sexual assault and child pornography charges after a search of a Waterdown home Thursday morning.

The Hamilton police investigation began after an alleged sexual assault victim came forward claiming she was assaulted during the summer of 2004 at a Waterdown recreational facility.

During a search of the Waterdown home around 8:30 a.m. Thursday police seized a number of computer equipment.

Police believe there may be further victims.

Anthony Burke, 69, is charged with four counts of sexual assault, four counts of sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, exposure of genital, criminal harassment, possession of child pornography, making child pornography available, making child pornography and voyeurism.

Anyone with additional information is asked to contact the victims of crime unit, Detective Tyler Preston at 905-540-6254 or Detective Sandy Walters at 905-540-5050.

http://www.thespec.com/news/crime/article/479445--hamilton-man-facing-child-porn-charges

Former Calgary scouter gets 25 years for running Thai brothel for pedophiles
January 31, 2011


John C. Wrenshall, formerly of Calgary

CALGARY — Calling him a "repeat, dangerous sexual offender," a judge has sentenced a former Calgary man to 25 years in a U.S. prison for running a brothel for pedophiles.

John Wrenshall, 64, was sentenced in a courtroom in Newark, New Jersey, on Monday for inviting men to travel from around the world to his home in Thailand to sexually abuse young boys.

Wrenshall pleaded guilty earlier to conspiracy to engage in sex tourism, conspiracy to produce child pornography and distribution of child pornography.

"John Wrenshall created a place where innocent children were sexually brutalized as a vacation pastime," said New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman in a statement.

"Children represent what is best in us, and Wrenshall's monstrous conduct represents the worst . . . It is fitting that a man who has condemned children to live with unimaginable scars for his pleasure and profit should spend decades of his own life in a prison cell."

It is not the first time Wrenshall has been convicted of sex crimes against children.

The former scout master and senior choir member at a Calgary cathedral was jailed for a year in 1997 for indecently assaulting eight young choir boys as far back as 36 years ago.

Wrenshall befriended all the boys after they joined the choir or attended scout meetings, according to the court.

Wrenshall also was convicted of a similar offence in 1970 and given a suspended sentence with two years probation.

Wrenshall emigrated to Thailand from Calgary and had been living just outside of Bangkok, since 1999 or 2000. U. S. authorities allege that's when he began a sex-tourism operation.

According to court documents, Wrenshall admitted that from at least as early as January 2000, he arranged trips to his home during which U.S. citizens and others paid him up to $200 to engage in anal sex, oral sex and other sexual acts with Thai boys, some as young as four years old. Wrenshall's customers were allowed to videotape and photograph their abuse. Wrenshall also personally victimized the boys in order to "train" them for his paying customers.

Wrenshall's illicit world came crashing down with the May 2008 arrest of his New Jersey client Wayne Corliss after photos of him surfaced on the Internet.

Corliss, 59, pleaded guilty to three counts of sex tourism and production of child pornography after a photograph of him sexually abusing young children in Southeast Asia circulated and were discovered in Norway.

Three of Wrenshall's U.S. clients — Corliss, Burgess Lee Burgess and Mitchell Kent Jackson — have already pleaded guilty and been sentenced on sex tourism and related charges.

Corliss was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Burgess and Jackson were sentenced to 78 months.

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Former+Calgary+scouter+gets+years+running+Thai+brothel+pedophiles/4198378/story.html#ixzz1Cg0UI6C9

Murder victims’ family members speak out
February 01, 2011

Family members of women missing or murdered along the Highway of Tears called on Missing Women Commission of Inquiry commissioner Wally Oppal for a separate inquiry.

Oppal was in Prince George Friday for an informal, pre-inquiry public forum. Family members and aboriginal leaders said disappearances and murders of women in the North took place under very different circumstances than the women missing from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and convicted serial killer Robert Pickton’s victims.

Brenda Wilson said the murder of her sister, Ramona Wilson, in 1994 should be grouped with Pickton’s victims.

“The majority of the girls that went missing on the Highway of Tears are, in fact, girls — not grown women,” Wilson said. “They have answers. They have a killer behind bars. We have no answers in these cases.”

Ramona was 16-years-old when she went missing from Smithers on June 11, 1994. She told her mother she was going to a friend’s house in Smithers, then tried to find a ride to a nearby reservation to visit friends there, Wilson said.

When Ramona didn’t come home, her family started looking for her at all her friends’ homes, school and her part-time jobs.

“We contacted the police and they weren’t very helpful at that time,” Wilson said.

“Why did they not send out an amber alert? Why did they not start an investigation right away? Our human rights have been violated.”

Ramona’s body was found 10 months later near the Smithers Airport.

Read more

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Burns Lake, B.C. - 17-year-old Chassidy Charlie of Burns Lake is the third young woman to be murdered in northern BC in recent months. 36-year old Cynthia Maas of Prince George, and 15-year-old Loren Donn Leslie of Fraser Lake were added to the growing list of murdered women this past fall. Elsewhere in BC, the death of 18-year old Tyeshia Jones in Duncan was ruled a homicide this week.

Tracy Porteous, Executive Director of the Ending Violence Association of BC, is asking when enough is enough before serious action is taken to address violence against women. "If this many people were dying due to airplane crashes or Influenza in this province, we would have national action," says Porteous, "We would probably see the Centre for Disease Control or the National Aviation Board swooping in to BC, the numerous policy analysts and investigators trying to figure out what's happening. But for crimes against women, we don't even have an office that's responsible." Porteous is calling for a comprehensive public education campaign in schools to address issues of violence. She says we need to change the whole culture to encourage more people to speak out against violence they witness or experience.

Read more

Sentencing judge to consider sex offender's aboriginal upbringing
January 28, 2011

WINNIPEG — He’s a career criminal whose latest attack sickened veteran police officers and had parents clinging to their children. But if Greg Hope has his way, he’ll catch a legal break and do less time in prison than other similar offenders.

His sentencing has been adjourned for preparation of a court-ordered report studying what, if any, effect his aboriginal upbringing should have on his punishment. The report is based on a Supreme Court case which said some First Nations offenders should receive more lenient sentences based on hardships they endured in life.

Hope, 35, pleaded guilty this week to kidnapping and raping a six-year-old girl from a Winnipeg playground last spring. It was a random attack that has left the victim physically and emotionally traumatized.

Hope admits going to the inner city playground one Sunday evening last May. He tried to befriend the girl, then lured her to a nearby home where she was brutally attacked. She was eventually allowed to return to the park, where family members found her crying.

Hope told police he was drunk and has little memory of it. No other details of the case were presented to court Wednesday. Hope remains in custody.

Read more

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Lakrtiz: Unhappy childhood doesn't excuse crime
January 31, 2011

Whose childhood should take precedence - Greg Hope's, or that of the six-year-old girl he snatched from a playground and sexually assaulted?

I'd vote for the little girl's childhood to take precedence, hands down, and I suspect most Canadians would agree. But, alas, our judicial system is toying with other ideas.

Last week, Hope, 35, pleaded guilty in a Winnipeg courtroom to sexual assault causing bodily harm and abducting a child under the age of 14. Winnipeg Free Press reporter Mike McIntyre described the incident, which happened last May, as "a completely random attack that has left the victim physically and emotionally traumatized."

Each of Hope's offences comes with a maximum sentence of 10 years. However, sentencing has been delayed because the court has ordered a report on, according to McIntyre, "what, if any, effect (Hope's) aboriginal upbringing should have on his punishment."

Yes, it's a case of his childhood against hers. Do the (presumably) unhappy circumstances of Hope's childhood merit him receiving a lighter punishment for having made the circumstances of this little girl's childhood far worse than unhappy? He stole her childhood away, forever, leaving her "physically and emotionally traumatized." The emotional trauma will last a lifetime. Shouldn't that count more than his own possibly dismal background?

Hope approached the girl at the playground as she played with her brothers, and attempted to make friends with her. He subsequently lured her to a neighbouring house, and after attacking her, let her go. She was later found at the park, crying.

Hope's record goes back nearly 20 years, during which time he racked up mainly property crimes and breaches of court orders, but there were also weapons offences and threats. Hope also admitted to problems with crack cocaine and alcohol, which he said fuelled his property crimes. He said he doesn't remember much about the attack because he was drunk.

The court, in ordering the assessment of Hope's upbringing, is acting on the Supreme Court of Canada's 1999 ruling in R. versus Gladue, whose effect on sentencing is described by the Justice Education Society (formerly the Law Courts Education Society of B.C.) thus: "Gladue asks judges to apply a method of analysis that recognizes the adverse background cultural impact factors that many aboriginals face. In a Gladue analysis these factors, if present in their personal history, work to mitigate or reduce the culpability of offenders."

The society adds: "This does not, however, mean that all aboriginal offenders automatically qualify for lighter sentences than non-aboriginal offenders. The principles of sentencing apply to all offenders equally, and so in many situations, such a remedy will not be appropriate to the circumstances of the case."

If any case merits being outside of Gladue's purview, it is this one.

Nobody will argue that "adverse background cultural impact factors" have had a deleterious effect on many aboriginal children. The echoes of the Indian Residential School legacy, sadly, continue to reverberate down through the generations. Aboriginal children experienced horrific things that their white counterparts did not, growing up.

But something equally horrific has been done to this little girl, and its echoes will reverberate down through all the years of her life.

There comes a moment when Greg Hope, an adult, must answer fully for his actions, and this moment - when his actions have had a devastating effect on a child's life - is it. Nothing should "mitigate or reduce the culpability" of this offender, because nothing will mitigate the effects of the crime on that little girl.

Read more

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Man gets 12 years for raping 6-year-old girl
March 24, 2011

A Winnipeg man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for randomly kidnapping and raping a six-year-old girl from a West End playground last spring.

Greg Hope, 34, pleaded guilty earlier this year to a crime which sickened veteran police officers and had parents clinging to their children. He returned to court Thursday afternoon for sentencing.

Crown attorney Jennifer Mann was seeking a 14-year penalty, which is the most allowed in Canada for the crime of sexual assault causing bodily harm. Hope’s lawyer requested an eight-year sentence. Provincial court Judge Fred Sandhu took a brief adjournment before returning later in the day to give his decision.

"What Mr. Hope did is beyond despicable. This is a parent’s worst nightmare," said Sandhu.

Hope has spent the past 10 months in custody which was given single-time credit. That leaves him with another 11 years and two months to serve. Sandhu took the rare step of ordering him to spent at least half his remaining time behind bars until he is eligible for parole. Normally an inmate can seek release after serving just one-third of their sentence.

Hope admits going to the Magnus Eliason Recreation Centre near Ellice Avenue and Langside Street, where the girl was playing with several older brothers one Sunday evening last May. He tried to befriend the girl, then lured her to a nearby home where she was brutally attacked. She was eventually allowed to return to the park, where family members found her crying and missing one of her shoes. She was taken to hospital for treatment.

Hope told police he was drunk at the time of the attack and has little memory of it.

As the Free Press revealed last year, Hope has a long criminal record and was released from jail only a few weeks before the attack.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Crown-seeks-maximum-penalty-for-man-who-raped-6-year-old-girl-118611499.html?viewAllComments=y&device=mobile

Saskatoon police issue high-risk sexual offender advisory
February 4, 2011


A high-risk sexual offender, Robert Wallace Street, is being released on Friday and will be residing in the Saskatoon area.

A public advisory has been issued by Saskatoon Police Service, advising the public that a high-risk sexual offender will be residing in the Saskatoon area upon his release from custody Friday.

Robert Wallace Street has a history of committing sexual offenses against young men under the age of 16 years. He is known to groom his victims and their families by befriending them to gain their trust and access to the victim.

Police say they want the public to be aware of Street’s presence in the Saskatoon area and his potential to re-offend.

Street was born on August 30, 1956 and is 5’8”, 170 lbs, with a shaved or balding head, glasses and a moustache.

There are a number of conditions Street must obey while on recognizance:

a) reside at an approved residence with a nightly curfew of 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. daily;

b) abstain from the purchase, possession or consumption of alcohol and other intoxicating substances and drugs, unless prescribed;

c) avoid attending public parks, swimming areas, school playgrounds or community centres where persons under the age of 16 are present;

d) not seek or obtain employment or become a volunteer in a capacity that involves being in a position of trust or authority toward a person under the age of 16 years;

e) not have any contact or communicate with, or be in the company of any person under the age of 16 years;

f) have no contact with prior victims or their families;

g) inform officials of travel plans, change of employment or change of residence.

Police ask they be contacted at 975-8300 if anyone is aware of any violations or 911 if it is urgent. Police also caution the information is intended to enable the public to take preventative measures and not embark on any form of vigilantism or unreasonable conduct towards Street.

Saskatoon Police Service issued the advisory under the Public Disclosure Act.

http://www.globalsaskatoon.com/Saskatoon+police+issue+high+risk+sexual+offender+advisory/4225422/story.html

VPD warns residents of high-risk child sex-offender staying at halfway house
February 4, 2011


Police are warning the public about convicted child sex offender Kenneth Wayne Cummings, a
46-year-old Caucasian who is six feet two inches tall and 225 lbs. He has greying brown hair,
brown eyes and he may have facial hair.

The VPD is warning residents of a sex-offender who is living at a Vancouver halfway house and poses a significant risk to both male and female children.

Police say Kenneth Wayne Cummings is a 46-year-old Caucasian, six feet two inches tall and 225 lbs. He has greying brown hair, brown eyes and he may have facial hair.

While at the halfway house, Cummings must abide by the following conditions of his parole:

• He is forbidden to contact with children under the age of 18;

• He is not to go to any place where there are children under the age of 18, including parks, playgrounds school grounds, swimming areas, beaches, daycares, recreation and community centres and libraries

• He is not to engage in any activities or employment that would bring him into any contact with, or place him in a position of trust over, children under the age of 18

• He is to abstain from illicit drug use.

Anyone witnessing Cummings breaching his conditions is asked to call police.

Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/life/warns+residents+high+risk+child+offender+staying+halfway+house/4226309/story.html#ixzz1D3iwn2ET

Suits against CFS, custodians allege abuse in foster care
February 8, 2011

TWO recently filed lawsuits target foster parents and Child and Family Services for alleged abuse involving youth in their care.

In one case, the father of two boys is seeking damages for physical and sexual abuse he alleges his sons suffered at a foster mother's home.

The statement of claim says the boys, now 16 and 17, went to live at a home outside the city with a foster mother in 2006 while they were in the care of Intertribal Child and Family Services. The claim alleges the boys were routinely abused by two nephews of the foster mother, who also lived with her.

"Almost on a daily basis, (the boys) were physically and sexually assaulted by (the nephews), including but not limited to blows to the head, blows to the body, fondling, digital anal penetration and being shot with a pellet gun," the lawsuit claims.

The statement of claim alleges "Intertribal had not performed proper background checks" on the foster mother and her family. It names her, her nephews, the CFS agency and the provincial government as defendants.

The boys were returned to their biological family in 2007 and their disclosure of alleged sexual abuse led the boys and their father to contact the Children's Advocate. An RCMP investigation led to criminal charges against the two nephews, who were both convicted.

"There was no system or practice or any adequate system or practice by the defendant Intertribal of oversight of the (placement), nor of supervision or monitoring of behaviour therein," said the statement of claim, which notes the the experience left the boys "emotionally shattered."

The claim said the boy's father had tried to warn Intertribal staff about the alleged abuse after his sons confided in him.

The boys will now require "medications, therapy, counselling" as well as other forms of treatment, the claim.

In a second, unrelated claim, a 20-year-old man is seeking damages from Southeast Child and Family Services and his former foster parents for abuse he says he suffered while living with the foster parents from 1996 to 1999.

"(The foster parents) failed to protect him from sexual battery by another child in the care of and under the supervision of the foster parents," said the statement of claim. It also said the foster parents "subjected (him) to physical and emotional abuse."

The man does not identify the foster parents by name in the lawsuit, but says he's suffered as a result of his placement. A spokesman for Child and Family Services said he could not comment on the lawsuits Monday.

"I am advised that lawyers for the agency and the department are gathering information and the facts that they will present when these matters get to court," the spokesman said in an email.

No statement of defence has been filed yet in either of the cases.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/suits-against-cfs-custodians-allege-abuse-in-foster-care-115545549.html

Foster father to stand trial in murder of infant

Following a preliminary hearing, Provincial Court Judge Hewitt-Michta, has ruled that sufficient evidence exists to commit Roderick Blacksmith to trial for second degree murder in relation to the November 12, 2008, murder of 13-month-old Cam Ouskan in Gillam.

Ouskan had been taken to Gillam Hospital on November 12, 2008, in life-threatening condition and was later transported to Thompson General Hospital where he died. An autopsy determined that Ouskan’s death was a homicide.

Blacksmith, now 32-years-old, has been arrested and charged with the second degree murder of Ouskan in January, 2009.

Blacksmith is scheduled to appear in Thompson Provincial Court on April 11, 2011, so that a trial date can be set.

http://www.mysteinbach.ca/newsblog/9842.html

Missing Teen - Ryan Wesley
February 13, 2011

Search Continues for Missing Teen

The search continues for a 17-year-old boy who walked out of the Royal Ottawa Hospital.

Ottawa Police say Ryan Wesley was last seen leaving the ROH campus about 1:45 Sunday afternoon.

An hour later he was seen at the Rideau Centre, and a short time later getting off an OC Transpo bus near Montreal Road and the Vanier Parkway.

Ryan is described as an Aboriginal male, 5 foot 9, slim build, with black hair and wearing a gray winter coat and pants.

http://www.cfra.com/?cat=1&nid=78041

********** U P D A T E **********

Ryan Wesley: FOUND

Ottawa police found Ryan Wesley who had fled from the Royal Hospital and say he is in good health.

http://www.tvagatineau.ca/articles/20110214061552/adolescent_retrouve.html

Man, 4-year-old son, found hanged in Quebec home

MONTREAL — A four-year-old boy and his 50-year-old father were found hanged in the garage of their home in the Montreal-area community of Ste. Julie, police said Wednesday.

The deaths have been tentatively classified as a "a murder followed by a suicide," said Sgt. Pierre Tremblay of Richelieu-St. Laurent police.

The bodies of Serge Vezina and his son Jeremy were found early Tuesday morning after police were called to the home, about 35 kilometres east of Montreal.

Officers broke in to discover what Tremblay called an "extremely difficult" scene in the garage.

Jeremy's mother, who had been separated from Vezina for about a year, became suspicious when their son was not at his daycare centre, Tremblay said.

"She called police after she saw her child's boots through the window of the front door, and the car of her ex parked," Tremblay said.

Vezina and his ex-wife shared custody of Jeremy, who was legally with his father at the time of his death, said Const. Serge Cote, another police spokesman.

Read more

Sexual Assault Alert, Four men wanted
February 14, 2010

Toronto Police Service news release

Sex Crimes Unit
416−808−7474

The Toronto Police Service is alerting the public to a sexual assault investigation.

It is reported that:

− on Sunday, February 6, 2011, at 12 p.m., a 15−year−old girl was forced into a car outside Kennedy subway station,

− the girl was taken to a motel on Kingston Road where she was sexually assaulted by four men.

The suspects are described as:

1) black, with a light complexion, 20−25, 5’8”, facial hair, short hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing baggy grey pants, white shoes with green/yellow lines and a baseball−style cap,

2) black, 5’8”, 20−25, muscular build, brown eyes, dark hair with facial hair. He was last seen wearing blue jeans, construction boots and a beige jacket,

3) black, 5'2", 20−25,

4) black, 20−25.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416−808−7474, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416−222−TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637), or Leave A Tip on Facebook .

http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/newsreleases/pdfs/20510.pdf
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snipped...
A 15-year-old girl was forced into a car outside Kennedy subway station and taken to a hotel on KIngston Rd. where she was sexually assaulted by four men around noon on Feb. 6, Toronto Police said Monday.

Police did not release the name of the motel.

Physically the girl is fine, said Const. Wendy Drummond.

"Emotionally that is very sensitive and everyone deals with it differently," Drummond said.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2011/02/14/17267556.html

Safety alert issued after students approached by stranger
February 14, 2011 12:02 PM

RCMP have issued a safety alert and parents are being urged to talk to their children about strangers after incidents in Salmon Arm and Enderby.

The RCMP have received two reports of a man in a white van or truck stopping and speaking to children. Jan. 31 and Feb. 6.

In the Salmon Arm incident, students were offered free pizza by the stranger.

“Both were reported in the late afternoon to early evening,” said Gord Molendyk, police spokesperson.

“In both cases, the male driver spoke to the children and asked them to come to the vehicle.”

Instead of approaching the vehicle, the youth left the area and reported the incident to their parents, who contacted the schools and RCMP.

Police have issued warning to local schools as well as issuing the public notice.

The man is described as a Caucasian who is about 30-years-old and is unshaven with dark hair.

The vehicle is a a white mini-van type, possibly with a black strip on it.

“The RCMP are asking families to talk to their children about speaking to strangers, and never get into vehicles if asked to do so,” said Molendyk.

“We encourage children to walk in a group and not alone. The police are reminding everyone to remember these safety tips and to report any strange actions like this to the police.”

School District #83 schools like Bastion Elementary are making parents and students aware of the situation.

"At our schools, we will be reviewing what to do when approached by an unknown person with our younger students," says Alan Harrison, Bastion prinicpal, in a safety alert notice. "I urge all parents and guardians to review your child's to and fron school procedures and what to do in different situations to ensure their safety."

This includes walking in groups, walking directly away from any stranger, going to a known adult's house and reporting concerns to family and school.

Anyone with information about these incidents can call the Salmon Arm RCMP at 250-832-6044.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/116168184.html

Hockey coach accused of sex crimes gets bail
February 14, 2011

A longtime Hamilton minor hockey coach facing sex and child pornography charges was released on $10,000 bail Monday.

Richard McKinnon, 46, is charged with sexual assault, sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, sexual exploitation and production of child pornography.

His arrest and charges stemmed from in investigation that began last Thursday when police were called to a Mountain home for a dispute. Through the investigation, police claim someone reported a historic sexual assault.

Police believe there may be more victims.

The alleged incidents span 2001 and 2006, while the accused was a coach for the Mount Hamilton Minor Hockey Association. Since 2007 he has been an assistant coach at the Hamilton City HUB peewee division.

The hockey association has banned him from coaching throughout the court process.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the victims of crime unit, Detective Scott Moore at 905-546-4614 or Detective Dave Oleniuk at 905-540-5543.

McKinnon’s next court date is set for March 17.

http://www.thespec.com/news/crime/article/485470--hockey-coach-accused-of-sex-crimes-gets-bail

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Alleged victim of coach now faces charge of sexual assault
Co-accused out on bail
March 26, 20


Hockey coach Rick McKinnon who has been charged with
numerous sexual assault offences involving youth, including child porn.

One of the five alleged victims of a 46-year-old hockey coach facing 22 sexual and violence-related charges is accused of committing sexual assault alongside her accused perpetrator.

The woman, charged with sexual assault, cannot be identified because she is also an alleged victim.

The charge of sexual assault can be laid when a person is the assaulter or is actively complicit.

Richard McKinnon, a former Hamilton Minor Hockey Hub peewee division assistant coach, is facing 22 sex, assault and child pornography charges from incidents that span 2001 to 2011.

The investigation began in February after police were called to his Mountain home for a disturbance. Information at the scene led to the victims of crime unit being called in to investigate.

Detective Scott Moore said there is little he can say now that the case is before the courts and is the subject of two publication bans.

But he said there may be more victims and he'd like to hear from anyone who knows anything.

It is also important to note, he said, that just because a victim comes forward to police, it does not mean they have to press charges.

A sexual assault victim's fear and reluctance to come forward is something that Lenore Lukasik-Foss, director of the Sexual Assault Centre (Hamilton and Area), deals with daily.

She spoke generally, not specifically, about the McKinnon case.

“It's the most under-reported violent crime in Canada,” she said.

Victims fear the questions that friends or family may ask, fear not being believed, fear threats and rumours, fear that nothing will happen, fear blame and fear reliving the trauma, she said.

Lukasik-Foss said she is not an expert in how a victim can become a perpetrator, but noted that many abusers groom their victims to think they are responsible or that there is nothing wrong with the behaviour.

The abuser often grooms victims to feel special, to feel only the abuser understands them.

“It's breaking boundaries, it's a process,” she said.

And when the abuser is in a position of authority or power, it only compounds the psychological elements that stop a victim from reporting or make a victim believe he or she is complicit in the behaviour, Lukasik-Foss said.

“You have to understand, the victim doesn't know there are other victims,” she said, adding that many feel there is something not right, but can't quite figure it out.

McKinnon is out on a $10,000 surety of bail.

His release conditions include abstaining from communicating with any alleged victims or their families, staying away from hockey arenas and not coaching any hockey teams, and he is prohibited from being in contact with any females under 18 and from having any computers or digital storage devices.

McKinnon has moved to Welland to be closer to his brother, who is his surety.

McKinnon's lawyer, Rory Cornale, was not available for comment.

His co-accused's lawyer also could not be reached.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the victims of crime unit, Detective Scott Moore, at 905-546-4614 or Detective Dave Oleniuk at 905-540-5543.

READ MORE

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Richard McKinnon, 46, faces 21 charges for crimes including sexual assault, sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, sexual exploitation and production of child pornography.

McKinnon is reported to have moved to Welland to stay with his brother, who is acting as his surety, after he was released on $10,000 bail earlier this month.

His court case is subject to two publication bans.

Niagara Regional Police spokesman Const. Nilan Dave said he couldn't comment on McKinnon.

"We can't comment on people's whereabouts or anything like that," he said.

Safety Alert - London, Ontario

Serial flasher exposes himself to teen girls
February 14, 2011 9:25pm

Police and school officials are warning parents to review safety measures with children after a flasher lurking on London pathways targeted female students heading to and from their classes.

The man hasn’t tried to touch the students, but police also warn such incidents can escalate.

“He just calls out, gets their attention — then after, runs away,” London police Const. Dennis Rivest said.

Three times in the past three weeks, a man fitting the same description has exposed himself to female students from Sir Wilfrid Laurier secondary school on Millbank Dr. in south London:

Jan. 27 at 3:05 p.m., to two students walking on a pathway on Downing Cres.

Feb. 10 at 8:10 a.m., to a female student walking along a pathway at Downing Cres.

Feb. 10, between 2:30 and 3 p.m., to a student on a walking path on Millbank Dr.

Rivest said police wouldn’t usually put out a public warning until they received two or three reports of incidents in a row.

“After two or three, you say, ‘Wait a second, maybe this is the same person.’”

Police still can’t say for sure the suspect in all three is the same person, but believe that’s the case.

The suspect is described as a white male, about 6’ tall, with a slim build.

Teachers notified Laurier students about the flasher Monday, and the Thames Valley District school board was notifying their parents by automated voice messages, said board spokesperson Richard Hoffman.

Elementary school pupils at nearby schools were being sent home with a letter Monday, Hoffman added.

“Parents are encouraged to review their safety measures with their children,” he said.

Police said students should take some basic precautions, especially when taking pathways off streets.

“It’s always a good thing to walk with someone on these pathways,” Rivest said. “If you see suspicious activity, don’t go to it. Go away from it.”

Students should never worry about calling 911 when they see something suspicious, Rivest said.

Police would like anyone with information to contact them at 519-661-5670, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or www.londoncrimestoppers.com.

http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2011/02/14/17266416.html

No one should fear exposing sexual abuse: victim’s grandfather
February 14, 2011

PORT SAUNDERS — The grandfather of a little girl molested by Stanley Broomfield hopes others can learn some valuable lessons from the terrible ordeal he says his family will continue to struggle with for the rest of their lives.

Broomfield, 39, was found guilty of sexual interference by a jury in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador in Corner Brook last week.

He was also convicted on two counts of assault and three counts of uttering threats, but was found not guilty of three other sexual interference charges involving other kids. All of the offences for which he was convicted were against children, ranging in age from 22 months to six years old, who were in the care of Broomfield’s wife while the couple was residing in Port Saunders in 2008.

The grandfather cannot be named because of a court-ordered publication ban prohibiting disclosure of the child victim’s identity. He told The Western Star all of the victims and their families have had a hard time coming to grips with what took place since the first hint something was wrong surfaced in the fall of 2008.

That’s when his granddaughter first told her mother about the “secret” she had been afraid to talk about because Broomfield had threatened to kill her mom if she ever did.

Watching the videotape of his granddaughter’s statement to the police for the first time when it was played in court during the trial, the grandfather said he had to leave the courtroom because it was so gut-wrenching.

“As a grandparent, I’m never going to get over it,” he said, on the verge of tears. “The look on her face, I could see the hurt in her eyes and I will never get rid of that look.”

The girl’s parents are also having a tough time moving on with their lives, mainly because they don’t know how their daughter will be affected as she gets older. They have moved out of the Port Saunders area, but do hope to return some day.

“We’ve been through that much, there was never a death in the family that felt so bad,” said the grandfather.

As horrific as it has been to endure, he is proud his granddaughter had the courage to finally come forward and put a stop to the abuse she had been subjected to. He can only hope more abused children can summon the fortitude to do the same.

“No one knows how long this was on her mind before she finally told,” he said.

READ MORE

Sask. child porn bust aids in rescuing young U.S. victim
February 15, 2011

SASKATOON — A Saskatchewan man's copious use of online child pornography has led to the rescue of a young American girl, whose image was found in his possession.

A 21-year-old man from Marshall, Sask., has been charged with 53 counts of child pornography offences, including possessing, distributing and making it, in the form of written materials, according to police and court records.

"We're knee-deep in a big case here," said Sgt. Darren Parisien of Saskatchewan's Internet Child Exploitation unit.

Parisien said evidence was found on a home computer seized by the RCMP in December during a search in the west-central Saskatchewan community.

When investigators discovered the man's digital images included one that was taken recently — and shared directly with the suspect — they acted quickly in the hope of locating the victim and her abuser. Identifying the location of the Internet user who had shared the image, Parisien said they sent evidence to police in the region.

A warrant was executed about seven to 10 days after the Canadian search, resulting in the arrest of one man and the rescue of the young girl — under seven years of age — who was identified in the photograph.

"We were very lucky we acted immediately," Parisien said.

He would not provide further information about the U.S. case to avoid jeopardizing active investigations.

Parisien also said that evidence seized during the Saskatchewan investigation has triggered numerous probes around the world.

Police are not releasing the suspect's name because he used his real name while online, and investigators are concerned that naming him could alert offenders who are the subject of ongoing investigations.

The man has been released on house arrest and is next scheduled to appear in court of March 14.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Sask+child+porn+bust+aids+rescuing+young+victim/4290368/story.html

Newborn taken from Hope couple
February 16, 2011

A premature baby born to former Hope couple Paul and Zabeth Bayne was removed from their care by the B.C. child and family ministry last Thursday.

"We're just devastated," Zabeth Bayne said in a telephone interview from her hospital room the next day.

"It was a traumatic and cruel experience, the way it was done," she said.

Ministry officials declined comment because the case is before the courts, but in an email explained that in any child protection case, the ministry's first priority is to make sure the child is not in danger.

"If it is deemed that a child needs protection, (the ministry), through its legislation, must go before the courts within seven days," the ministry said, where a judge will decide if the child should remain in ministry care or be returned to the parents.

But to the Baynes - and to supporters who contacted The Progress - removing the baby born prematurely put his health and safety at risk and robbed him of the chance to bond with his mother.

"How is this in the best interest of the child?" supporter Rachel Kragh asked in an email. "Anyone with an inkling of a brain knows that a baby needs that bonding time with his mom, especially if he is small and earlier than most normal births."

The Baynes' baby boy weighed in at 3 lbs 15 oz when born at 6:30 a.m. Thursday.

Zabeth Bayne said she pleaded with the social worker to let the baby stay with her until he gained weight.

"But (the social worker) said he had orders from above that he had to remove the baby from us," she said.

The couple, who now live in Surrey, have been in a much-publicized court fight since 2007 with the ministry for the return of their three older children after allegations were made that they had shaken a baby daughter, causing brain injury.

The couple claimed the child was injured after an older brother, a toddler at the time, tripped and fell on top of her.

Chilliwack provincial court judge Thomas Crabtree is expected to make a ruling on the case sometime this month.

Supporters of the couple accuse the ministry with dragging out the court case because the Baynes embarrassed officials by going to the media with their story.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/116364834.html

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Child protection hearing adjourned
February 21, 2011

A court hearing mandated by legislation for the possible return of a newborn baby to a former Hope couple already fighting the B.C. children’s ministry for custody of three older children was abruptly adjourned last Thursday.

“I was prepared to argue a few points, but the ministry wanted it adjourned,” Zabeth Bayne said in a telephone interview Friday.

However, a ministry spokesperson said in an email Monday that in fact it was the judge who adjourned the hearing after receiving a report from the ministry director that included the circumstances that caused the removal, and an interim care plan.

“A copy of this is shared with the parents,” the spokesperson wrote. “It is the judge who makes the decision to adjourn a case.”

The Baynes could not be reached for comment by press time Monday.

But during the Friday interview, Zabeth said the Thursday hearing was adjourned for seven days without a request for an extension and without any ruling on who has custody of her infant son in the interim.

“There was no court ruling given ... it was crazy,” she said. “I don’t understand. We’re left in limbo.”

Bayne also said she and her doula were “cut off” from talking to the pediatrician who is looking after the baby, born premature on Feb. 10 and removed by the ministry several hours later.

The ministry refused comment on the latest removal because the Baynes are already in a court case with the ministry involving three older children, who were removed after allegations were made that an infant daughter was shaken causing brain injury.

The Baynes claim an older brother, a toddler at the time, tripped and fell on top of his sister. The couple has enlisted the support of medical experts to back up their claim in court hearings over the past three years.

A ruling from Chilliwack provincial court judge Thomas Crabtree is expected by the Baynes sometime this month.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/116626058.html

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Surrey parents to wait another six months to regain custody of their four kids
March 3, 2011


Paul and Zabeth Bayne and kids Kent, Baden and Bethany in 2009. The Baynes are fighting for
custody of their kids after they were seized by social workers in 2007.

A Surrey couple fighting for custody of their four young children is “heartbroken” by a court ruling saying the kids must remain in foster care for another six months.

In a case that gained significant online attention, Paul and Zabeth Bayne sought to have their children returned to them after they were seized by social workers more than three years ago.

On Wednesday, Judge Thomas Crabtree found the children — three-year-old Bethany, five-year-old Baden and six-year-old Kent — in need of continued protection. A fourth child — baby Josiah, born just four weeks ago — also remains in foster care.

“We’re really disappointed,” Zabeth said Thursday. “But we feel the judge has laid out an opportunity for us to get our kids back, and we’re prepared to do what’s needed to see that happen.”

The Bayne family was split apart by the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) after baby Bethany was hospitalized with injuries doctors believed were the result of being shaken — a diagnosis Paul and Zabeth have always claimed was impossible.

In an interview before the verdict, Zabeth told The Province Bethany was a normal baby until an accident in September 2007 when her brother fell on top of her. The baby girl stopped eating and began vomiting, leading the couple to visit a series of doctors.

Bethany was eventually admitted to B.C. Children’s Hospital with fluid buildup in her brain and other injuries. Shortly after, the baby girl and her two older brothers were placed in foster care. Josiah was also taken away after his birth Feb. 10.

READ MORE

Edmonton caregiver charged in death of disabled boy
February 18, 2011

EDMONTON - Edmonton police have laid a manslaughter charge against a caregiver in connection with the death of a seven-year-old disabled boy in Jan. 2009.

The boy, who received 24-hour care, from parents and trained caregivers, died in his southwest Edmonton home.

Several months after the death, new information came to police and the file was reopened by homicide detectives. That renewed investigation led to charges against the caregiver who was present in the home at the time of the boy’s death.

Renee Marie Boudreau, 31, has been charged with manslaughter, mischief endangering life, failing to provide the necessaries of life and criminal negligence causing death.

Her first court appearance has not yet been scheduled.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/entertainment/Edmonton+caregiver+charged+death+disabled/4311408/story.html

--------------------


Renee Marie Boudreau

Boudreau was charged on Feb. 17, 2011 with manslaughter, mischief endangering life, failing to provide the necessaries of life and criminal negligence causing death.

Boudreau is expected to make a court appearance on March 25th.

http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110218/EDM_DEATH_110218/20110218?hub=EdmontonHome

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Charges against Edmonton caregiver stem from alleged tampering with medical device: court documents
Woman charged with manslaughter in death of disabled boy
February 24, 2011

snipped . . . . .

Boudreau was also charged with mischief endangering life, failing to provide the necessities of life, and criminal negligence causing death. Court records show that the mischief and criminal negligence charges stem from disconnecting, unplugging or tampering with the boy’s pulse oximeter, a device that monitors oxygen levels in the blood.

. . . . . Boudreau was released on $10,000 bail and is scheduled to be back in court March 25.

. . . . . According to Sanjeev Anand, a University of Alberta law professor, the range of charges suggests the Crown prosecutors could have different theories about the child’s death and are awaiting more evidence.

Anand said the manslaughter and criminal negligence charges overlap, while the mischief endangering life charge is “unusual” since it typically refers to malfeasance of property.

READ MORE

Investigation under way after four-month-old baby found dead in Vancouver

Vancouver police are investigating the suspicious death of a four-month-old baby boy.

Police executed a search warrant on a home in the 4000-block of Crown Place after the baby was found “unresponsive” by a family member on Thursday morning, said VPD Const. Jana McGuinness.

After a family member called 911, four people were taken into custody for questioning and then released.

The cause of death is “very unclear” and police “need to preserve evidence, until we know results of an autopsy scheduled for next week,” she said.

“Out of an abundance of caution we are preserving evidence and we have executed a search warrant . . . we are holding the home,” McGuinness said.

McGuinness would not comment on the condition in which the baby was found

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Investigation+under+after+four+month+baby+found+dead+Vancouver/4310796/story.html

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Autopsy gives no indication death of baby was suspicious, police say
February 23, 2011

An autopsy conducted Monday shows no indication that the death of a four-month-old boy last week was suspicious, Vancouver police said Wednesday.

"The exact cause of death is still uncertain but may be determined by further medical testing," Const. Jana McGuinness said in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon.

A family member had discovered the baby unresponsive last Thursday on the Musqueam Indian Reserve. The baby was taken to hospital, where it died a short time later.

Four people were taken into custody for questioning and released without charges.

The sudden death was initially deemed to be suspicious.

http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Autopsy+gives+indication+death+baby+suspicious+police/4336256/story.html

DiManno: Powerful child welfare authorities must be called to account
February 22, 2011 | By Rosie DiManno Columnist

When Elaine Campione was on trial for murdering her two young daughters, the prosecution deliberately declined to call child welfare authorities to the stand.

In a strategic gambit to secure conviction — which did, in fact, result — the Crown attorney avoided diluting the case by spreading the blame to anyone other than the accused.

Yet the defendant’s own parents, and her estranged husband, had expressed their urgent concerns about Campione’s mental problems to the local Children’s Aid Society, long before the woman drowned her children in the bathtub in a horrific act of spousal vengeance. The CAS has never been held to account for its decision to return those kids to their mom following her psychiatric hospitalization.

Child welfare authorities in Ontario have immense powers yet are accountable to no one.

The incidents where a member of the CAS or the Catholic Children’s Aid Society or the Jewish Family and Child Service have been charged criminally in cases of youngsters dying or suffering unspeakable abuse while under their supervision can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

The roll call of the dead includes:

• Jeffrey Baldwin: A toddler who was given to his maternal grandparents in a “family adoption,’’ despite the fact his grandmother had been convicted of second-degree murder in the death of her first daughter many years earlier (two other children had been seized) and his grandfather had been found guilty of assaulting children only six years previously.

The emaciated 5-year-old died from shock and bacterial pneumonia brought on by malnutrition. Court heard he was locked in a room surrounded by his own feces and was made to drink from the toilet. At death, Jeffrey weighed just 21 pounds.

An entry from the boy’s case file noted that his grandmother operated as a Society-funded daycare provider “and her worker at the time had no concerns regarding this family.’’

• Randal Dooley: Beaten to death by his father and stepmother 11 months after arriving in their household, he had 13 broken ribs, a lacerated liver and fractured vertebra, and a tooth in his stomach. When his teacher had earlier brought the child’s bruises to the attention of the school principal, that man had called the CAS to report the suspected abuse and was told, as he recounted from the witness stand, that “the CAS was not going to attend.’’

Two weeks after Randal died, the CAS phoned the principal back and asked, retroactively: “Did you expect us to come?’’

• Jordan Heikamp: Five weeks old when he died at the native women’s shelter in Toronto where his teenage mother had been living. The baby had starved to death because his mom had not breastfed him sufficiently, overly thinned the milk formula Jordan was given and been wildly neglectful of the infant’s needs.

The mother afterwards complained that her social worker had not provided the help she required to take care of the baby.

A coroner’s inquest would ultimately rule the death a homicide, though charges against the mother and the social worker were dropped at the preliminary hearing phase. The coroner’s jury, among its recommendations, urged that child welfare workers be reminded it’s the child who needs protection, not the mother.

An internal email allegedly from an executive of the agency, posted online by a children’s advocacy group, describes his initial response to media coverage of Jordan’s death: “I could not understand why this case was causing such an uproar against CCAS.’’

A couple of weeks ago, a Hamilton couple were convicted of abuse and endangerment over two youngsters found living in a locked basement room, after police responded to a 911 call made by the younger boy, who was all of 2 years old. In that case, the social worker had been in the basement mere hours before police arrived and noticed nothing amiss — not the stench of feces and urine, not the two rats caught in a trap.

At trial, the worker said she’d had a bad head cold that day, so was unable to smell anything.

“Her testimony about the basement was not credible or worthy of belief,’’ the judge concluded. “I find that it defies logic that she would not have detected some of the squalor.’’

Yet the Hamilton Children’s Aid Society stands by its employee.

Kids in care, those under agency supervision, are among the most vulnerable human beings in society. And everyone claims their welfare is of paramount importance. In practice, however, there’s a turf war over authority and the playing field is tilted heavily toward the impenetrable secrecy of child welfare agencies.

A Children’s Aid complaint brochure specifically disallows complaints directed at the CAS or the Ontario Child and Family Services Review Board (CFSRB) in matters “currently before the courts or that the courts have already decided,’’ and “matters that fall under other decision-making processes under the Child and Family Services Act or the Labour Relations Act.’’

The province has a Child Advocate office but that department doesn’t possess any investigative powers. It cannot compel cooperation from any agency.

Ontario is the only province that does not grant the provincial ombudsman authority to investigate child welfare agencies such the CAS, the CCAS or the JFCS. Deaths are investigated by the coroner’s office — after the fact, its recommendations non-binding.

There is, essentially, no apparatus for determining whether case workers have been either overzealous or undermotivated in the management of any child’s file and precious little parents can do when faced with the monolith of a child welfare agency scooping up their kids.

“In Ontario, the child protection system is exempt from oversight,’’ says André Marin, the Ontario ombudsman whose annual report this year will again call for changes to the Ombudsman Act, pleading for child welfare agencies to be brought under his office’s jurisdiction.

Marin’s office received 306 child welfare complaints last year, none of which he has the legislative clout to pursue. Ironically, the ombudsman can oversee the policies of the Ministry of Children and Youth Services but can’t investigate how those policies are being applied. “So, we can look into the ministry’s glass tower in downtown Toronto but we can’t reach out to the community that’s being affected.’’

The ombudsman’s office also oversees the operation of the CFSRB — a quasi-judicial entity that reviews complaints made about a child welfare agency’s decisions but doesn’t probe the underlying issues.

“They’re one per cent of the solution, that’s about it,’’ says Marin. “And we have oversight for them. Whoop-de-doo.’’

When a specific case explodes in the public arena — a child’s death, especially — there’s wide discussion of bringing welfare agencies to account, and then the urgency fades away until next time.

“These are powerful agencies that get $1.4 billion a year from the government,’’ says Marin. “They get very defensive, ferociously defensive. And they bring out their well-oiled PR machinery.’’

Marin has long been crying out for government to “plug the hole’’ in the Ombudsman’s Act relative to child welfare agencies. “It’s a legal anomaly that has existed since the ombudsman’s office was conceived in 1975.’’

Last November, an NDP private member’s bill was introduced, yet again, at Queen’s Park to amend the act. “It never goes anywhere,’’ says Marin. “The government always vetoes it.’’

Citizen groups have also been fomenting for legislative changes, holding protests outside some particularly controversial regional CAS offices. “They’re usually portrayed as lunatics or a fringe minority,’’ observes Marin, “but they have legitimate issues.’’

Marin maintains he has the staff to do the job if the province would just remove the shackles.

“I can’t think of any area more ripe for oversight than child welfare. Children die and no one takes responsibility, no one answers the important questions.

“It’s just so sad.’’

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/943239--dimanno-powerful-child-welfare-authorities-must-be-called-to-account