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13 Years Of Child Abuse
Nets 3 Months In Jail
By Gay Abbate
The Globe and Mail
7-6-4
OSHAWA, Ontario -- A nine-month prison sentence for an Ontario couple who frequently locked their two adopted sons in cages is not enough,
according to the boys, their relatives and the children's aid society that handled the case.
&quo
;I don't feel justice has been served,"
said the younger son, now 17.
"I feel they should get more time."
Wanda Secord, director of services with the Durham Children'
;s Aid Society, echoed his sentiment. "We are disappointed. We had hoped for a stronger sentence," she said outside the courthouse
in Oshawa, Ont., after the two were handcuffed and led away to begin serving their sentences.
The jail time does send a message to abusive parents that "child abuse is not acceptable ever," and the courts "need to be continuously giving that message," she added.
Assistant Crown attorney Soula Olver was also clearly displeased that Judge Donald Halikowski of the Ontario Court of Justice rejected her plea on sentencing. She had asked for as long as eight years for the mother and up to five for the father.
Ms. Olver said she could not comment on the sentence, but she did say the Crown is looking at a possible appeal.
University of Toronto psychology professor Gary Walters, who specializes in child abuse and parenting, said in an interview the sentence seemed light.
"What would be an adequate sente
nce for something like this? It seems lenient, obviously. The sentences in these kinds of cases, in child-abuse cases in general, always seem to the public to be lenient relative to
the acts themselves."
The couple, from Blackstock, near Port Perry, pleaded guilty in January to forcible confinement, assault with a weapon and failure to provide the necessities of life.
Although the teenagers were forced to sleep in cages for 13 years before they were rescued on June 4, 2001, their parents will be jailed for only three months. Under the provincial jail system, prisoners are released on full parole after serving one-third of their sentences.
The brothers, 17 and 18, are under the protection of the Durham Children's Aid Society and cannot be identified.
Relatives of
the boys expressed bitter disappointment at the short sentence. Their grandfather said doctors who testified at the couple's sentencing hearing based their evidence on the mother's version o
f events. "She led them down the garden path," he said.
Judge Halikowski said in his ruling that "there is no doubt [the boys] were difficult to raise" because they were born with fetal alcohol syndrome
and had attention deficit disorder, a diagnosis the Crown disputes. But having said that, he remarked that the couple's treatment of their sons was "beyond comprehension."
The boys' grandfather said the judge lost his focus and judgment when he suggested that what happened was the boys' fault because they misbehaved.
"The boys got the feeling, what value is being put on their lives?" he told reporters.
The couple remained passive as the judge sent them to jail instead of imposing the conditional sentence with no jail time th
at their lawyers had proposed. Judge Halikowski placed them on three years probation, ordered them not to be in the company of anyone under 16 and barred them from communicating with their sons w
ithout the court's permission.
The judge said a long stay in prison would worsen the couple's physical problems. The 43-year-old adoptive mother, who is the boys' biological aunt, has arthritis and back problems, and suffers from depression and constant pain.
The 52-year-old adoptive father, the boys' uncle, has heart problems. He is illiterate, with only a Grade 3 education, the judge noted. And although he has a criminal record, none of it is for violence, he added.
The judge praised the couple for showing concern for their sons' health, taking them regularly to doctors and talking to their teachers about their progress. But he said that "what may have started as good intention descended quickly into abusive behaviour...that crossed the threshold to near torture
."
Alexander Sosna, the mother's lawyer, called the judgment fair and balanced. He said there were no victors and that the case was a tragedy for everyone concerned.
He lashed out at the Crown, saying that "to suggest, as was the theory, that this abusive conduct took place every day for 12 or 13 years was a far-fetched fantasy. That was not the reality."
The reality, he said, was that "these children were tethered, these children were abused periodically, but not sy
stematically on a daily basis."
The youths regressed significantly when they were removed from their parents, but over the past three years, with the help of social workers and therapists, they are doing better, Ms. Secord said.
They are both in high school and in their own words are doing well. They miss each other; they live in separate group homes.
Ms. Secord said the boys have indicated they wish to stay with the children's aid society until they turn
21.
- With a report from Mary Nersessian
Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc.
http
://globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040706.
wxcaged0706/BNStory/Front/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rense.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13 Years Of Child Abuse
Nets 3 Months In Jail
By Gay Abbate
The Globe and Mail
7-6-4
OSHAWA, Ontario -- A nine-month prison sentence for an Ontario couple who frequently locked their two adopted sons in cages is not enough,
according to the boys, their relatives and the children's aid society that handled the case.
&quo
;I don't feel justice has been served,"
said the younger son, now 17.
"I feel they should get more time."
Wanda Secord, director of services with the Durham Children'
;s Aid Society, echoed his sentiment. "We are disappointed. We had hoped for a stronger sentence," she said outside the courthouse
in Oshawa, Ont., after the two were handcuffed and led away to begin serving their sentences.
The jail time does send a message to abusive parents that "child abuse is not acceptable ever," and the courts "need to be continuously giving that message," she added.
Assistant Crown attorney Soula Olver was also clearly displeased that Judge Donald Halikowski of the Ontario Court of Justice rejected her plea on sentencing. She had asked for as long as eight years for the mother and up to five for the father.
Ms. Olver said she could not comment on the sentence, but she did say the Crown is looking at a possible appeal.
University of Toronto psychology professor Gary Walters, who specializes in child abuse and parenting, said in an interview the sentence seemed light.
"What would be an adequate sente
nce for something like this? It seems lenient, obviously. The sentences in these kinds of cases, in child-abuse cases in general, always seem to the public to be lenient relative to
the acts themselves."
The couple, from Blackstock, near Port Perry, pleaded guilty in January to forcible confinement, assault with a weapon and failure to provide the necessities of life.
Although the teenagers were forced to sleep in cages for 13 years before they were rescued on June 4, 2001, their parents will be jailed for only three months. Under the provincial jail system, prisoners are released on full parole after serving one-third of their sentences.
The brothers, 17 and 18, are under the protection of the Durham Children's Aid Society and cannot be identified.
Relatives of
the boys expressed bitter disappointment at the short sentence. Their grandfather said doctors who testified at the couple's sentencing hearing based their evidence on the mother's version o
f events. "She led them down the garden path," he said.
Judge Halikowski said in his ruling that "there is no doubt [the boys] were difficult to raise" because they were born with fetal alcohol syndrome
and had attention deficit disorder, a diagnosis the Crown disputes. But having said that, he remarked that the couple's treatment of their sons was "beyond comprehension."
The boys' grandfather said the judge lost his focus and judgment when he suggested that what happened was the boys' fault because they misbehaved.
"The boys got the feeling, what value is being put on their lives?" he told reporters.
The couple remained passive as the judge sent them to jail instead of imposing the conditional sentence with no jail time th
at their lawyers had proposed. Judge Halikowski placed them on three years probation, ordered them not to be in the company of anyone under 16 and barred them from communicating with their sons w
ithout the court's permission.
The judge said a long stay in prison would worsen the couple's physical problems. The 43-year-old adoptive mother, who is the boys' biological aunt, has arthritis and back problems, and suffers from depression and constant pain.
The 52-year-old adoptive father, the boys' uncle, has heart problems. He is illiterate, with only a Grade 3 education, the judge noted. And although he has a criminal record, none of it is for violence, he added.
The judge praised the couple for showing concern for their sons' health, taking them regularly to doctors and talking to their teachers about their progress. But he said that "what may have started as good intention descended quickly into abusive behaviour...that crossed the threshold to near torture
."
Alexander Sosna, the mother's lawyer, called the judgment fair and balanced. He said there were no victors and that the case was a tragedy for everyone concerned.
He lashed out at the Crown, saying that "to suggest, as was the theory, that this abusive conduct took place every day for 12 or 13 years was a far-fetched fantasy. That was not the reality."
The reality, he said, was that "these children were tethered, these children were abused periodically, but not sy
stematically on a daily basis."
The youths regressed significantly when they were removed from their parents, but over the past three years, with the help of social workers and therapists, they are doing better, Ms. Secord said.
They are both in high school and in their own words are doing well. They miss each other; they live in separate group homes.
Ms. Secord said the boys have indicated they wish to stay with the children's aid society until they turn
21.
- With a report from Mary Nersessian
Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc.
http
://globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040706.
wxcaged0706/BNStory/Front/
