WARNING: The details in this story are disturbing. Discretion is advised.
The lawyer representing the foster mother convicted in a horrific case of child abuse in the Fraser Valley believes there should be a province-wide inquiry into B.C.’s child welfare system.
Chilliwack provincial court judge Peter La Prairie called it a “house of horrors.”
Two Indigenous children were starved and tortured by their foster parents, also Indigenous, between December 2020 and February 2021 in Lake Errock, B.C.
The evidence indicated the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) hadn’t checked on the 11-year-old boy and his eight-year-old sister for seven months.
The last visit with the MCFD was on July 27, 2020.
On Feb. 26, 2021, the boy sustained a traumatic brain injury. On that date, he was dragged into the kitchen and thrown to the ground by his foster mother, according to La Prairie’s judgment.
“As he lay on the ground, she kicked him and grabbed him around the neck. (The boy) struggled while he was on the floor to put his shirt on. As he was on the floor, (she) kicked (the boy) and then grabbed his wrists to stand him up. (He) was unsteady on his feet and (she) slapped him in the face. (The boy) fell back on the floor. (She) picked him up from the floor and threw him back down. (The child’s) head bounced off the wood floor. He was unable to brace himself as his hands were stuck in his shirt. (She) kicked him while he was on the ground. (He) was unresponsive.”
The boy died days later.
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“This young child died, but he didn’t need to die,” said Derwin Petri.
Petri represents the foster mother sentenced to 10 years in prison for manslaughter and six years for aggravated assault.
He and his client want a provincial inquiry into what went wrong.
“My client took accountability and took responsibility by pleading guilty but there were other people that were involved,” Petri told Global News in an interview.
“The social workers, I think they’ve got to come forward and explain what was going on and why weren’t they doing things in the seven months that this child was being abused.”
The MCFD says the staff directly involved in the case are no longer employed by the ministry.
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Under MCFD standards and practice, social workers are required to visit foster homes and children in care at least every 90 days.
La Prairie said it “is incomprehensible how someone can inflict such pain, suffering and violence on an innocent child.”
“(The children) were put in (the foster parents’) care for protection. The exact opposite occurred. Their actions against these children were evil and inhumane.”
“Sums up really what happened here, and it didn’t need to happen,” said Petri.
The foster mother, according to the evidence, had initially agreed to care for the children for a short period of time.
She describes having the children in her home as stressful and overwhelming, while a pre-sentence report notes she asked the MCFD for assistance as she could not care for the children – but her request was not met.
“She had requested assistance early on in the process and wasn’t given that assistance,” said Petri, who did not specify what sort of help his client had requested.
“They could have done a video chat with the child on a regular basis and they would have noticed immediately that there were significant changes taking place in this child’s physical appearance and they could have done something about it.”
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Much of the abuse was captured by CCTV cameras in the home. Citing a publication ban in the case, Petri said he could not disclose why his client had surveillance cameras installed.
The evidence included 16,000 videos with approximately 400 hours of playing time.
La Prairie said “it is inconceivable to understand how the abuse as depicted on the videos continued over a lengthy period of time, with the children in emaciated conditions and no one did anything. These are issues that need to be addressed.
“The only way I think my client believes as well that change will come (is) when the public is made aware of the problems that are within the system,” Petri told Global News.
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“This information has to come to light, and I think the only way to do that is through a public inquiry.”
When asked about a potential provincial inquiry into the case on June 22, B.C. Premier David Eby said the “MCFD will continue to do their work to improve and to ensure that no other child faces this kind of situation.”
B.C.’s representative for children and youth announced on June 26 that it is conducting a formal investigation into the case. Jennifer Charlesworth, called it “one of the most egregious situations” she has seen in more than 40 years of working with children and families.”
When asked if there would be an inquest into the death of the 11-year-old foster child, the BC Coroners Service said communication about the decision for a death to proceed to an inquest is made by way of a public announcement, and it does “not speculate regarding the possibility in the interim.”
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