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Saturday, May 20, 2006

The unbearable darkness of being
CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD
I have been writing about Jeffrey Baldwin off and on for more than three years, since shortly after his miserable death in his prison of a room in an east-end Toronto house on Nov. 30, 2002.
In that 42-month period, I knocked on the front door of the house, this in those early days before his grandparents were ever arrested, and was chased away by his obese, glowering and remarkably entitled grandmother, who later called police to complain about me; broke the story of how the Catholic Children's Aid Society had agreed to give custody of Jeffrey and his siblings to the grotesque grandparents without even checking its own files that detailed the pair's earlier, separate convictions for child abuse; covered much of the grandparents' criminal trial (they were found guilty of second-degree murder and will be formally sentenced on May 30); attended a tender memorial, organized by strangers, for the dead boy; and read and wrote about a searing report written by an external consultant, who described in crisp prose the ways the CCAS had failed Jeffrey.
For the longest time, I had a picture of the little boy on a wall of my home office and, later, a T-shirt with a blown-up version of the same photo.
I took them down a couple of weeks ago.
Jeffrey's grandparents, Elva Bottineau and Norman Kidman, are likely to pass the rest of their lives in prison — second-degree murder carries an automatic "life" sentence with only the parole ineligibility period still to be decided by the judge — but, as an outcome, this is so profoundly unsatisfactory as to evoke despair.
Last month, Mr. Justice David Watt of Ontario Superior Court ruled that, as Jeffrey's caregivers, the grandparents are guilty of killing him, and so they are. For her part, the grandmother is of borderline intelligence but a vicious, self-referential woman, and surprisingly capable and cunning. The grandfather is a big, lethargic dope, uninterested in much beyond his own creature comforts and unwilling to put himself out one bit to help the child who was slowly dying before his eyes.
They richly deserve their sentences, and not a whit of pity.
But, my God, Jeffrey and his little sister, centred out for cruel treatment by the grandparents though Jeffrey bore the worst of it, lived in that small house surrounded by adults.
Two of the Bottineau-Kidman grown daughters, and their men, also lived there, the most notorious of them one James Mills. Mr. Mills is the best known because he was the only one of that household to testify at trial — Judge Watt described him as "a curious mixture of blatant self-interest and unfathomable loyalty to the persons charged" — and because, as the only one in the house not related by blood or marriage, he might have been presumed to be less bound to the studied indifference that was the household's reaction to the little boy's plight.
Alas, like Mr. Kidman, whom he so admired, Mr. Mills lifted not a pinky, not once, not ever, to help the suffering Jeffrey. The night the little guy died, Mr. Mills was in the bedroom next door, playing video games.
The only price he paid for his stunningly heartless behaviour was the sting of publicity, the same price, albeit to a much lesser extent because they were not called to the witness stand, paid by the other adults who lived in the house.
So, while the grandparents are the perpetrators, while it was their legal duty and theirs alone to have properly cared for a vulnerable child, there was a larger pool of adults who donned blinkers. This is not criminal conduct, but it is morally reprehensible and depressing.
Institutionally, there were three different systems involved one way or another in the case. Two of them — the police and the administration of justice — did their jobs and emerged with honour, in reasonable good time.
Though homicide detectives probably harboured dreams of charging every person in that vile house and the agency that agreed to give the grandparents custody in the first place, and though they would have done so to wide applause, they correctly arrested only the grandparents, because only they had legal liability and opportunity and could be successfully prosecuted.
The accused were robustly defended before one of the best judges in the nation, who heard the case without a jury and wrote a 200-plus-page decision that is as sound as it is literate.
Only the Catholic Children's Aid Society came out of the abyss if not entirely unscathed — the agency, too, was called to account in the realm of public opinion — then unbowed.
At the crux of the agency's explanation for what happened was that there was, at the time Jeffrey's grandparents gained custody of him, a policy vacuum in child care.
Back then, went this explanation, when relatives stepped into the breach when parents were deemed unfit, there was no rule that workers do background checks on the relatives — as though it were perfectly acceptable that a requirement for a thorough family history, in any custody case, should flow from a formal directive.
Child-welfare agencies, chiefly the CCAS, were intimately involved with Jeffrey's various family members for 36 years; there was a wealth of frightening information about the grandparents in the files the agency failed to review.
To my knowledge, the agency has never explained — nor been asked to explain by anyone other than the press — how it was that it also approved Ms. Bottineau as one of its own paid child-care providers a mere four years after her husband was convicted of assaulting two of her youngsters from a previous marriage and despite her own conviction in the 1970 pneumonia death of her first baby, an infant named Eva who later was found to have suffered multiple fractures consistent with battered-child syndrome.
Its front-line workers involved in the case have never publicly explained their thinking.
There remains one last hope that the agency and those workers will be asked these questions and others — Ontario's chief coroner has called an inquest into the little boy's death.
The cynical view is that little good can come of these proceedings, because the recommendations of any inquest jury are only that — recommendations — and because the inquest cannot assign blame.
I don't subscribe to that view. I think the more such decisions are examined, the more publicity brought to bear on the workings of secretive organizations, the more good, ordinary people see that wasted little boy as he appeared on the autopsy table, the better.
Studies show that the sort of slow, semi-starvation Jeffrey Baldwin endured is worse, physiologically and psychologically, than total starvation. In the latter, hunger pangs disappear within a few days; in the former, there is no such blessing.
I can't bear to look at his picture any longer, but he remains in my heart. I await the inquest with eagerness.
cblatchford@globeandmail.com

266 comments:

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Anonymous said...

Death concealed
June 6, 2006
Alberta conceals a death with confidentiality laws.

Just the meager information in the article, shows that the police are misleading the mother, and the public: SIDS is the death of a child under one year old. We are a lot less likely to find the true cause of death as long as the press conceals the names of the persons involved.

expand

collapse

Edmonton Sun

June 5, 2006

Toddler dies in foster care

Girl found dead in crib

By ELIZA BARLOW, Staff Writer

Instead of celebrating her youngest daughter’s second birthday Tuesday, a Hobbema mother will be laying flowers on the toddler’s grave.

On May 28, the 26-year-old mother was at home waiting for a visit from her four children – ages nine, five, three and one – who were placed in foster care in December.

But the children never arrived. In their place came a group of RCMP officers and social workers who told her that her baby was dead.

Now, the mother says she wants answers on how her child died in the Innisfail foster home.

“I don’t know what happened,” said the mother Monday. “She was happy and healthy and she was just starting to talk. She was just innocent and sweet.”

Sgt. Lyle Marianchuk of the Innisfail RCMP confirmed police responded to an Innisfail home at about 8:30 a.m. on May 28 for a report that a two-year-old girl had been found dead in her crib.

“An autopsy was conducted which led to the conclusion that no foul play was involved in the child’s death,” he said.

However, Marianchuk said police will not close their investigation until they receive the results of toxicology tests on the child, which normally take six to eight weeks.

Marianchuk said it appears the little girl may have died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)-related causes.

The mother freely provided her name and the name of her late child to the Sun. However, provincial law prohibits the Sun from publishing any information that would identify children in foster care.

The mother said her children were taken from her due to her alcohol problems. But she questions why the children had to be sent to Innisfail rather than be placed with their grandmother, her mother.

“They didn’t even take my kids to family. They just shipped them out there.”

Mel H. Buffalo, spokesman for the Indian Association of Alberta, said he’s troubled by the death of the little girl, buried by her family June 1.

“They take our kids away, send them to non-native families and then send them back in coffins,” he said.

Alberta Children’s Services spokesman Mary Lou Reeleder refused to comment on any aspect of the case, citing confidentiality laws. She said a “case review” is conducted whenever a child dies or is seriously injured in foster care.

Source:
www.edmontonsun.com/ News/ Alberta/ 2006/ 06/ 05/ 1615922.html

Anonymous said...

As a mother of SORRY an adopted child, as an infertile women myself,

THIS BILL MAKES ME SICK.

AND I PROMISE YOU, I WILL TELL EVERY PROSPECTIVE ADOPTED PARENT, ABOUT IT, NO THEY ALL DO NOT WANT CHILDREN THAT HAVE LOVING FAMILY THAT WANT THEM.
SOME MAY, BUT WOULD ANYONE WANT A CHILD GROWING UP WITH UNETHICAL PARENTS.

HOW COULD YOU DARE LOOK INTO THE CHILDS EYES, KNOWING THERE IS A MOTHER GRIEVING AND GRANDPARENTS UNCLES AND AUNTS, MOURNING THE CHILDS LOSS.

I COULD NOT DO SO, AND THERE ARE MANY MORE LIKE ME, I PRAY.

THE lies they tell you about why the child went into care, I have seen them, and the damage and abuse by the foster family, far worse then the mothers so called harm. I have seen that as well, and adopted parents are not free from the ravages of the CAS they will give children ten forever families if it makes them money.
It never been about child protection, it has never been about anything more then big business.

And its one hell of a good corporation, but none are immune is you all speak out, and demand an end.
That day will come, but not until we demand it.
My child is better off for knowing her natural mother. And not allowing lies or untruth greed or insecurity,
to come between a natural bond, I cannot nor ever dream of taking from either one of them.
WHAT this government has plans to do, is not open, please educated young women that may feel this is a good thing, and give up trying to keep a baby taken from her.
They young single mom is at real risk today. the OBs and Gyns of this province will be informed.
Home births will become the norm. EVEN AT RISK TO THE MOTHER,
as we watch this province become a total nanny state, one wonders how on earth they think they will pull it all off, I am starting to miss Harris. Write your MPs and your MPPs,
ask for a inquiry at the fed level.
its clear they cant afford oversight, and this minister by not doing so may have put the Libs, on a long time out in Ontario. No we dont trust them. And we do not trust this BILL. and NO ONE TRUST THE CAS, NOT EVEN THOSE THAT PRETEND.

Anonymous said...

There's a concern about the change in the threshold in the
definition
> of a child in need of protection. As the minister referred to earlier, the
> existing legislation talks about "substantial risk" that a child will
> suffer, and then there are a number of categories of definition of harm;
for
> example, physical harm, or that "the child has been sexually molested or
> sexually exploited" due to the acts of a parent or a failure of a parent
to
> adequately care for, provide for, supervise or protect the child. The
> threshold, though, is the first part of that phrase that I read out,
> "substantial risk that the child will suffer." Those words, as the
minister
> again pointed out, are being changed to "a risk that the child is to
suffer
> harm." Some people in the area of family law are asking: "What is the
> definition of `risk'? Of what proportion is the risk? Is it any risk? Is
> there a threshold in the definition of `risk'?"
>
> We know this will evolve through the courts, we know this will be
> tested out over time, but what's the expectation? Perhaps some discussion
> among people about that might have given some clear thought; perhaps the
> legislators might have been able to talk about it after the hearings in
> third reading debate in a way that would give instruction to judges in the
> future in terms of what our intent was. That opportunity is missed.
>
> The concern is that we have a risk of unstated proportion that a
child
> is likely - well, again likely. I guess that's more than a possibility;
> perhaps it's a probability. If there's a risk that they're likely to,
maybe
> it's a possibility that they probably will suffer harm.
>
> I don't want to nitpick around words, because what we're dealing
with
> here are kids' lives, and this is critically important, but I want to
stress
> that the words carry with them legal meaning and legal import and that
> courts will in fact interpret those.
>
> Minister, you shake your head.

Why do they pass laws they dont even understand, Leaves me shaking my head

Anonymous said...

Benefits, harms and costs: Because of the high false-positive rates of screening tests for child maltreatment and the potential for mislabelling people as potential child abusers, the possible harms associated with these screening manoeuvres outweigh the benefits.

this is from the expert??? in Ont, if the child maltreatment experts have trouble telling what abuse is and is not, and this is a MD, then how can we expect the SWs to do so, ?
???????
the have high rates of in other words, false alligations, so how many children have been taken away, and could be adopted, because of there errors, when your trained to only see child abuse, thats what you will see.

Anonymous said...

Editorial Reviews
Memoirs of a Baby Stealer: Lessons I've Learned as a Foster Mother (Paperback)
by Mary Callahan



Book Description
Mary Callahan never planned on writing a book about her experiences as a foster parent. She had only one goal as a parent, to help the children in her care. But as she learned their stories, it became painfully clear that the Child Welfare System had no sincere regard for the welfare of children. Callahan realized the only way to truly help the children was to tell their stories.
Written from the unique perspective of a foster parent, Memoirs of a Baby Stealer chronicles Callahan's experiences with five foster children, shedding light on the inadequacies of the Child Welfare System in this country. As the author explains, "They are taking kids from places that aren't that bad, putting them in places that aren't that good, and completely ignoring the bond that exists between parent and child."

About the Author
Mary Callahan is an emergency room nurse, cardiopulmonary nurse educator, and foster parent. She is the author of FIGHTING FOR TONY, an account of her own research that led to a cure of her son's autism, as well as numerous articles on parenting, nursing, and foster care. The mother of two children, Callahan resides in Maine.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting about the book written by a foster mother, will try and find it. Once again I don't believe all foster parents are bad or adoptive one's either but the system is corrupt.

And be they gay or infertile, I don't be-grudge one for that ... the issue is that they seem to think they are "entitled" to children because of it.

Children are entitled to THEIR BLOOD, NATURAL AND NORMAL FAMILIES ABOVE ANYTHING ELSE. That is children's rights.

Only in situations where no one can take a child in the family - and not just the mother and her family, but the father as well should a child ever be raised with strangers. Only in real cases of abuse.

But that is not what child welfare is about - it is about finding and hunting. It is evil, corrupt and purtid, and it harms children continually.

Someone posted another article about another dead baby murdered in foster care. How many more dead children will it take to overhaul child welfare?

It just goes on and on... the small mercy is that the media is actually covering child deaths in adoption and foster care which was a great taboo decades before. People who foster and adopt are not superior people, that child welfare ever taught society that they were is a great crime. Moreover, it is placing children in great danger overall.

Child welfare brands one set of people forever, and glorifies another forever. It is not logical, and it is not safe what so ever. The system places children at risk, it always has.

Anonymous said...

Child welfare was based on hate and social cleansing, it was NEVER ABOUT CHILDREN NOR IS IT TO THIS DAY!

Anonymous said...

In the article about this weeks dead baby in foster care LISTEN to this statement from the mother..
“They didn’t even take my kids to family. They just shipped them out there.”

EXACTLY - as rather then having the family they shipped the baby to a desperate infertile couple?

How in the hell did we create such blind empathy for infertile people YET NONE WHAT SO EVER FOR A CHILD IN THE LOSS OF THEIR ENTIRE FAMILY. Who taught us these LIES, WHO TEACHES US THESE LIES TODAY?

And the survey says, the CAS of course!

Jeffrey needed to be protected but that is not what this vile system is about.

Anonymous said...

The Toronto CCAS should be SHUT DOWN COMPLETELY. As someone stated why should they be "rewarded" for this by more funding ........ in so many words.

AND THEY ARE DEAD RIGHT, SHAME THAT JEFFREY IS DEAD, AND SHAME ON THE LOT OF THEM!

Anonymous said...

Before the brokers come educate yourselves, if you know of a young mother look out for them. If you know of a father look out for them. Band together, and be careful, they are coming for your children with sharp teeth, wolves in sheeps clothes.

To the adoptive mother that thinks this is wrong good for you, but really trying to convince those willing to capture and hunt babies is not going to work. you might instead advocate for family preservation...... and good that you do care about the child that you adopted, and their mother.

Anonymous said...

There was just a case where a lesbian couple tried to win the right to announce them as being the 2 mothers of a child. INSAIN. CHILDREN ARE BORN TO A MAN AND A WOMAN THE LAST TIME I CHECKED. Why do infertile people, gay people or anyone that wants to adopt HAVE THE RIGHT TO TAMPER AND FALSIFY A CHILD'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE??

Is that about the child or them?

Should be obvious I think.

Children HAVE THE RIGHT TO THEIR FLESH AND BLOOD. How evil is this industry when they allow the lie to happen that a child is born to 2 men or women? In the best interests of the child is about the best interests of those who obtain them, it has always been this way.

Anonymous said...

If people think that infertile people, gay people or ANYONE that moves has the right to a child over the child and their actual family then they are indeed totally insain.

Anonymous said...

I am glad that Dufferin VOCA is out there, and for anyone interested do look them up. It is an intelligent site, long overdue to expose the corruption.

Anonymous said...

Three types of parasites on earth...

those who abuse children, those who use children, and those who sell them.

Anonymous said...

I read the news today, another child is dead.
Another child took a ransom on their head.

They said he would be better off, and safe forever more,
They said his mother was unfit, to them she was a whore.

Her greatest crime was poverty, their greatest crime is lies.
Depending on your verdict, depending on your eyes.

They said he would be safe, for every single day.
But then again, their pay cheque is telling it this way.

A child he was forever, and dead forever more.
And all because they judged his mother, if we’re keeping score.

His father was invisible, forbid that he was found.
As if the man had right’s, an industry in the ground.

I read the news today, another child is dead.
Another child took a ransom on their head.

The stranger is forever, and safe forever more.
And all upon the lie, their mother was a whore.

Real families, are no better, not safe forever more?
Based upon the theory, the mother is a whore.

The families all extended, are neither safe as well.
In child protection services a modern wicked hell.

But none of them will answer, to anything above.
The children were all taken, for someone else’s love?

I read the news today, another child is dead.
Another child took a ransom on their head.

But they have all the answers, the crystal searing ball.
Never held responsible, the greatest crime of all.

They said he would be happy, in all that is above.
And be forever grateful, they thought that this was love.

And as he passes forward - onto the other side.
He’ll be greeted by dead children, their arms are open wide.

And many of them are angels, sent from well above.
To try and maybe tell us, strangers are not forever love.

Before their brutal fates, they ached for something more.
Their mothers, and their fathers, if we’re keeping score.

And in between the darkness, and what is wrong and right.
Do not give up on children, and never stop this fight.

By anonymous, with love - and written for all the dead children who are anonymous who died in care of child protection agencies.

Saturday, June 03, 2006 4:54:43 PM

The baby killed in foster care once again, will be met by Canada's little angel - Jeffrey Baldwin.

Anonymous said...

preventing child deaths is not working with the anti-christ.

Anonymous said...

Let's get back to something we can do now. Anyone planning on attending the rally June 9th? All this blogging is good, but we must take action. Talk is cheap. As a united front we can make changes happen and protect the children

Anonymous said...

QUEENS PARK RALLY
TUESDAY JUNE 20 2006
11:00 TO 12:30

Dear Fellow Canadian Citizens

On Tuesday June 20 2006 at Queens Park in Toronto the families of Ontario will once again march on the provincial government’s front lawn in a rally. The rally is to ask for accountability and responsibility with respects to Children’s Aid Societies in Ontario. We the families involved and/or concerned with the CFSA and Children’s Aid Societies and their strong armed polices ask the government of Ontario for relief.

Last March 16 2005 we rallied to ask for a Royal Commission of Inquiry. This time its to show frustration with the CFSA. With the 2007 election around the corner this could certainly be a topic to win the election for any party. Some of the areas, just to mention a few are;

1. According to the Charter of Rights and Freedom Equality Rights 15. (1) Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability. Which act has more power the charter of rights and freedoms or the family services act? There are confirmed cases of Children's Aid violating the above by not allowing a grandparent to care for their grandchild because of their age. Addiction is considered under federal and international law as a disability and depression is clearly a mental disability. So addiction and mental health are disabilities and should not be used against someone but yet the family services act continues to use it against parents. Canada jumped at the human rights thing and now its time to show that we still believe in them.
2. There are many drug testing agencies around Ontario, some very good. However I have recently discovered that several of these agencies favour CAS. In a phone interview with one director I asked 3 key questions. One what is the percent of your caseload that CAS is paying for and he answered 95 percent. Second question was how much does this testing cost?. He answered about 1000.00 per collection. Then I asked how much do you get paid for these test? He refused to answer and hung up. It does leave me with a sick feeling in my stomach that these tests are supposed to detect drugs and/or alcohol in a person to help them overcome the burdens of the addiction, however with CAS overpaying some labs that do these test. A test could be altered to favour CAS.
3. A Brantford father questions parenting assessments done for CAS? The father told me today in a phone conversation that a lot but not all doctors who perform these assessments receive up to 300 percent over the criminal interest rate of Canada for performing them. The father went on to say that the average assessment cost about 200.00 per hour and the average assessment last 5 hours. That would suggest the cost of the assessments should be 1000.00 per person. With the average family having two parents the cost should be 2000.00. A great number of doctors who perform these assessments are paid 5000.00 per person. That’s 200 percent in most cases. The criminal interest’s rate of Canada is no more then 60 percent on an annual basis. The father concluded by saying "just a thought if the average parent overpaid 200 to 300 percent on a parenting assessment would the doctor not pass or favour you too"

These are just three of the areas that will be talked about at the rally. I encourage you all to join us June 20 2006 at Queens Park in Toronto as we rally for family rights.

“ We can find a missing automobile anywhere in Ontario in 48 hours but a missing child maybe never found, I’m not sure we have our priorities straight” A former Ontario police chief 2000

**THIS WILL BE A PEACEFUL RALLY**

Sincerely

Rob Ferguson
Brantford

519-754-0927


Please join us for this rally, For Jeffrey's Law, oversight of the Child protection agencies, bring your children, bring your families, and friends,
I hope origins will join us in a Silent Bed Time Story, empty baby buggy's, and cribs, your broken hearts and supporters please join us.

After Foster Care please join us.

DOCTORS, NURSES,
LAWYERS AND TEACHERS PLEASE JOIN US, AND I thank you those that have already cleared there day be there.

FOSTER PARENTS PLEASE JOIN US, YOU WILL NOT BE THE ONLY FOSTER FAMILIES BRAVE ENOUGH TO BE THERE.

SINGLE MOMS SINGLE DAD,MARRIED MOMS AND DAD, DIVORCED MOMS AND DAD, MOMS AND MOMS AND DADS AND PAPAS, GRANDPARENTS, PLEASE LET YOUR VOICES BE HEARD, PLEASE JOIN US.
ministers, and priest, rabbi and Muslims, JW, UNIT
lease join us, you have heard the stories, you know your PARISHINOR tragic stories, please join us , we surly need a higher power to help stop the needless apprehensions, and unnecessary threat that put families at great risk today.
CITIZENS FOR MORALITY PLEASE JOIN US,
FATHERS FOR LIFE, PLEASE JOIN US.
ALL CONCERNED CITIZENS PLEASE COME OUT,

IN documents obtained from the ministry of children and youth services under the freedom of information act. the CAS of Toronto, which at that time worked with 33,351 children- reported the DEATHS of 12 children, they call them clients IN 2004.
BUT PERHAPS more then any other CAS the catholic CAS made the most repeat appearances in the media.

IN ADDITION TO THE BALDWIN'S, THE AGENCY PLACED CHILDREN IN THE CARE OF PAUL BLACK A foster parent who a few months back, admitted to sexually abusing 2 crown wards.

as the agencies have been taking larger numbers of children into care it has more then doubles its sky rocket, since risk of future abuse could mean anything, and threaten professionals with fines, for not reporting and thing, piss your doctor off, and well.
in 2004 the CCAS REPORTED THE DEATHS OF NINE CHILDREN IN THERE CARE, AND 39 CASES OF ABUSE, HOW MANY DID THEY NOT REPORT, THE NUMBERS ADDED ARE MUCH HIGHER THEN NUMBERS IN GENERAL POPULATION

JUST IN ONTARIO BETWEEN 1994 /95
100 CHILDREN DIED IN THE SYSTEM THIS IS ALARMING.
AND THE GOVERNMENT GAVE THEM MORE POWER TO APPREHEND, NOT THAT THE AGENCIES EVER FOLLOW LEGISLATION ANYWAY.
IF YOU CARE ABOUT CHILDREN FAMILIES, AND JUSTICE, PLEASE JOIN US.
IN PEACE, AND IN HOPE, THAT THIS GOVERNMENT WILL UNDERSTAND ITS UCH MORE THEN OVER SIGHT NEEDED, AND ONE WONDERS WHY THEY ARE FIGHTING THAT.








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Anonymous said...

WOW they when I look at the numbers , in care! it is higher, and this is just two agencies, in Toronto's so called child protection agencies managed to kill what could have been a large classroom of students,and abused many more. this is shocking.
its seems the more children they take the more they harm. but I no longer believe they have ever help any children.

Anonymous said...

from the adopted mother that is waht i am advocating for, read my petion, or come out and sign it please.

Anonymous said...

Did you check the latest TORONTO LIFE magazine. It reports that MARY MCCONVILLE makes almost 160,000$ dollars a year.

What do you think of that???

Anonymous said...

In response to the two lesbians wanting both to be mom.

Their child (or children) were not adopted but born via artificial insemmination.

The whole idea is sick and I dont know how children can be raised in these environments and turn out ok.

Most lesbian women choose artificial insemmination over adoption for obvious reasons--at least the baby will have half their genetics. Homosexual men do not have that option unless they "rent a womb".

I do not believe in homosexuals adopting. I cannot imagine being raised in that environment. The young man (about 17-18) on Diane Sawyer Prime Time said he was ok with the arrangement.

I think he had settled--if you gave him a choice he would not have chosen the 2 men to be his parents.

Anonymous said...

I figured Mary McConville's salary was in the six digit range. We, the taxpayers are paying her. I don't want to pay her salary any longer!!!

How fair is that - it disgusts me! There are chidren in care that only have the clothes on their back, scared, alone, heartbroken, families ruined and torn apart - all because of her!!!!
She should have resigned when Jeffrey Baldin died!!!

Anonymous said...

Local CAS in trouble again!

CAS worker charged
Boy's cash, Easter chocolates stolen, mother alleges
By JONATHAN JENKINS, TORONTO SUN
June 8, 2006

Paid to protect a 12-year-old child, a York CAS worker allegedly lined her own pockets with the boy's money and ate his Easter chocolates.

The boy's mother had opened an account with $50 for her son, whom she can only speak with every second week, and sent him an Easter card with gummi worms, Skor bars and lottery tickets in late March.

"In the Easter card, I wrote, 'I opened a bank account for you -- here's the PIN,' " the mom said. "She (allegedly) opens that up and, dadum, Christmas came early for her: Chocolates and money and lottery tickets.

"I'm the one who had to tell him -- you know, it's not coming; the money's gone, the chocolates are gone, it's been stolen."

The card was never delivered to her son but on Good Friday the bank card was used and $40 was withdrawn.

Her son, who has been in care for almost five years, was devastated, she said.

"I said, buddy, I can get you more chocolates, I can get you $40. If you need to steal from a child, $40 won't solve your problem," she said.

"They're kids, they shouldn't have to worry about fighting and who's stealing their Easter eggs."

The mother eventually called police and the worker -- Donna Lennon, who is a veteran supervisor -- has been charged with theft under $5,000 and possession of stolen property.

She said the worker has also been fired but York Children's Aid Society did not return calls for confirmation yesterday.

"They wouldn't comment to me ,which is why I went to the police," she said.

"They said it was an internal matter and they couldn't discuss it with me because of confidentiality. If they were to say anything, it would open them up to liability."

Lennon is to appear in court July 6.

Anonymous said...

To the blogger opposed to gay parents adopting. Who cares what your views are on this? Aren't we on this blog to protect children? Let's keep our judgements to ourselves, unless it's in regards to someone harming any innocent living being. Get off our high horses and move beyond chit chatting. I've found a lot of blogger's are a lot of talk at home on their computers. The media has put out some staggering stories, statistics, etc. Now it's our duty to act on it. I'm not saying you are wrong in your view point (I personally have many gay friends, some of who are excellent parents-so I can't even relate to your way of thinking), but let's not get caught in the trash that Mary M and other's live in. Get over it.

Anonymous said...

To the last poster if you don't care that children are being apprehended for infertile people, gay people and anyone else then too bad, I do.

The system is a mess, and the last thing it needs to do is to start hunting down children for gay couples. Children have rights, and child protection does not respect them.

Taking children NOT in need of protection is child abuse itself and it is totally wrong.

Read the article about the supervisor at York CAS she was fired - if that is the case why is the worker at the CCAS still there?

It really is shocking. Glad that the Sun covered this story, God only knows what else is going on.

Anonymous said...

Also this blog is about making CAS agencies accountable and so taking children not in need of protection is quite relevant to this discussion. It is as bad as them failing kids in actual need of protection.

Glad to see the York supervisor fired, many others should be as well!!

Anonymous said...

I hope justice will be served tomorrow for Jeffrey.

Anonymous said...

By MARK BONOKOSKI

This article is in the Toronto Sun today. Well said Mark Bonokoski, this whole thing is a nightmare the CCAS response, and the government as well........ here is the article below.


Unless there is another hiccup in the system, the Grandparents Grimm -- custodial low-lifes Elva Bottineau and Norman Kidman -- will finally be sentenced today for the tortuous second-degree murder of their grandson, the only curiosity being the length of time the jailer's key will be thrown away before they can apply for parole.

When 5-year-old Jeffrey Baldwin died from the brutality and starvation they had inflicted upon him, his weight was that of a 10-month-old baby -- his years, according to Ontario Justice David Watt, "eked out" in the "miserable existence" of a locked room described as a frigid, urine-soaked "dungeon" coated with the filth of human feces.

What that young boy endured is almost impossible to fathom, and no sentence his abusers receive today will ever do him justice.

Elva Bottineau and Norman Kidman are simply a waste of air, and no mercy should be given.

An eternity in hell, in fact, would not be too kind.


NO BACKGROUND CHECK

If there is any future good that can come from the horror surrounding this tragedy, it is that Ontario's chief coroner, Dr. Barry McLellan, has ordered an inquest into Jeffrey's death -- with the focus rightly centred on the Catholic Children's Aid Society.

For it was that agency -- a taxpayer-funded, social safety net geared towards child protection -- that handed the boy over to his eventual killers when a simple background check would have uncovered a family steeped in child abuse.

In 1998, when Jeffrey's own parents were being investigated for child abuse, and he and his siblings were seized, the CCAS never opposed Bottineau's bid for legal custody of her daughter's children -- meaning they never checked their files to learn that Bottineau, as a teenage mother, was herself convicted of assault causing bodily harm in the 1970 pneumonia death of her battered first child, Eva.

Then there was Bottineau's husband, Norman Kidman, whose documented history has him convicted of the extreme beatings of two of Bottineau's children from a previous marriage -- another record easily accessed by the CCAS.

Yet into those abusive arms young Jeffrey Baldwin was tossed, along with three other siblings.

There is one office, however, that might have caught Jeffrey Baldwin in mid-toss -- if the government of Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty had listened when it adopted Bill 210 -- amendments to the Child and Family Services Act that promised, among other things, a stronger, and timelier, complaints process within all children's aid societies.

NO COMMITMENT

For it was then that Ontario ombudsman Andre Marin was deep in meetings with government officials, trying to convince them that the independence of his office offered the ideal arm's-length place for CAS complaints to be handled.

"I did my fair share of glad-handing but received no more than a sympathetic response," Marin tells me.

"What I didn't get, however, was a commitment and, quite frankly, nor is there any commitment in sight.

"Bill 210 presented the perfect opportunity to provide oversight of the CAS, and they let the opportunity slip by," says Marin. "And not for the first time."

Way back in 1975, for example, the province's first ombudsman, renowned criminal lawyer Arthur Maloney, was pushing buttons to have his office oversee the CAS.

"But we missed the boat then, and we're missing it now," says Marin. "We need to think only of the misery and death of Jeffrey Baldwin to realize the true value in having the ombudsman's office involved.

"But, as it stands, my office cannot investigate cases like Jeffrey's because of the limits placed on it.

"And that's frustrating considering what happened."

Although Marin's office monitors the coroners' court system, he has not yet been invited to participate in the Jeffrey Baldwin inquest -- which is somewhat ironic.

"After 30 years, the time has come to again raise the profile of the CAS issue," says Marin.

'IT MAKES NO SENSE'

"Ontario is the only province where the CAS is outside any independent oversight -- despite using public money to fulfil a state function of providing care for children in need of protection, and despite having a provincial mandate which should be under my direction except for the technical reason that they are not deemed to be 'governmental organizations.'

"It makes no sense, but that's the way it is."

It should come as no surprise, however, that the CAS umbrella organization wants no part of Marin's office not only monitoring CAS operations province-wide but being the go-to place for complaints.

As Jeanette Lewis, executive director of the Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies, put it: "(Andre Marin) has not very well articulated to the public the number of accountability mechanisms that exist (within CAS)."

This does not mean, though, that Marin will go away.

Marin's response?

"The CAS talks of having 17 different oversight mechanisms," he says. "Truth is, I don't know how they can say it and say it with a straight face.

"In light of what happened to Jeffrey Baldwin, I am surprised by the rabid reaction of the CAS.

"It clearly has a system that's flawed."

Anonymous said...

Jeffrey Baldwin you sweet little angel I hope the putrid, vile murderers of you get 25 years for what they did. This should warrant the death penalty though.

Rest in peace sweetheart, you will not be forgotten.

Anonymous said...

Dearest Little Jeffrey,
If only your life had been different. If only you had been allowed to play outside at the park, been allowed to play soccor, allowed to eat with a fork, allowed to wander freely inside your own home, receive love, encouragment, someone to comfort you when you had nightmares. It hurts so much knowing you were denied all this and so much more. I hope and pray that others that are in the same kind of situation are saved before it's too late. I hope that they find some sort of comfort to get them through the days. I hope that they can find comfort when they dream, that they will always have hope.
I also hope that the so called grandparents never have the chance to have what they took away from you, Freedom.
As the blogger said above, Rest in Peace sweet Angel, we love you so much.

Anonymous said...

Jeffrey's Law.CAS Over sight, by the ombudsman's office. Ask for it please.

Anonymous said...

Toronto's Chief Crown Attorney Slams the CAS for Incompetence

How much is Mary McConville paid again?

20 years for Jeffrey's killing
Jun. 9, 2006. 12:02 PM
NICK PRON
TORONTO STAR

Elva Bottineau's knees buckled but she showed no emotion when a judge told her she must stay in jail for at least 22 years before applying for parole in the death of her 5-year-old grandson, Jeffrey Baldwin.
Her common-law husband, Norman Kidman, was told by Mr. Justice David Watt that he had to stay in prison for 20 years before he could apply for parole in the Nov. 30, 2002 death of his grandson.

"The crime is abhorrent to the core values in our society," Watt told the couple, both 54, in a packed University Ave. courtroom today.

Afterwards, Toronto's chief Crown attorney, Paul Culver, said the role played by the Catholic Children Aid's Society was critical in Jeffrey's death.

"I was shocked and surprised at the low level of co-operation this society gave to the homicide investigators and later to the prosecutors in the case," he said later outside of court.

Last month, Justice Watt found Bottineau and Kidman, both 54, guilty of second-degree murder in his Nov. 30, 2002, death.

During the four-month trial, emergency workers said they were shocked at the sight of Jeffrey's wasted body when they were called to his home.

The child weighed 21 pounds, a pound less than on his first birthday. He died from septic shock after suffering from bacterial pneumonia, caused by sleeping in his own bodily wastes in a bedroom that was locked nightly from the outside, the trial heard.

Bottineau and Kidman had custody of Jeffrey and three of his siblings.

Anonymous said...

Quotes

"I’ve seen children who’ve been removed from their families by SCF for long periods of time. They’re ruined, just ruined. They can’t trust their parents to defend them. They often get bounced from one care provider to another. They don’t really have a home or a family any more. They’ve lost the ability to connect – like they’re zombies or something. It’s evil, and it’s wrong." - Velma Hartwig, grandmother and long-time family advocate.

"These (caseworkers) are people who are given an enormous amount of power over somebody else. And they routinely abuse that power," Dr. Melvin Guyer, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan and a practicing attorney.

"Anti-culturalism - the idea that socializing children and attempting to mold the character of the young is a wrongful use of power by the strong (parents) against the weak (children) - is the dominant ideology among child development experts, and it has filtered into the courts, into the schools, into parenting magazines, into Hollywood." - Kay Horowitz, fellow at the Manhattan Institute, author of Ready or Not.

"Imagine a 911 system that cannot distinguish between life threatening crimes and littering...only about 3 percent of the total child abuse cases suffer an injury severe enough to require professional care. Thus, 90 percent of the cases labeled "physical abuse" are really situations of excessive or unreasonable corporal punishment which, although a matter of legitimate government concern, are unlikely to escalate into a serious assault against the child." - Douglas Besharov, a founding father of America's Child Protection system; having second thoughts.

"The experience we share is that the therapeutic state, begun with the noblest of concepts, can readily become a tyranny. The other strategy that leads to tyranny is to punish those who do not respond or conform to the psychotherapeutic regimen. The main problem with this approach is that psychotherapy does not work very well." - Presenter at First International Forum of Child Protectors of the Netherlands

"(There is a) high base rate of false positives in the child abuse system as currently structured. If the accusation is false a citizen has a heavy and dangerous burden to overcome, that is, the assumption that anybody accused is guilty. Potential dangers may also extend to spouses and children. Innocent spouses are threatened with termination of parental rights (Patton, 1990) and children are placed in foster care, often for years with many moves from placement to placement. - famed child abuse researcher Ralph Underwager, April 29, 1999.

"(America's Foster Care system is a) quagmire that is spawning a generation of forgotten and forsaken children. Thousands are being neglected, abused, even murdered under what is ostensibly government protection." - TIME magazine, November 13, 2000.

"I would be the first to agree with you that there are many bullies in this field. I have come across many workers who dispense their own form of abuse by ripping families apart. There is a lot of power that comes in being a CPS worker and there are people who get off on that power. But you must remember: These bullies are in every field -- doctors, lawyers, judges, police officers, teachers, etc. What separates CPS workers from these other professions is that these other professions have a strict criteria that must be met before you can become a doctor, lawyer, judge, etc. Do you know what it takes to become a CPS Specialist in Texas? All that one needs is a four-year degree. That means that the people who are ripping these families apart are more likely to have their education and training in fields like, oh say, drama, philosophy, music, etc. I find it insulting that they are considered as qualified to assess risk or trauma as a trained, licensed social worker." - Texas caseworker (with a Master's Degree in Social Work).

"Kids taken into foster care often end up in the State Penitentiary. They get separated from their parents at an early age, then bounce around in foster care for years. There's no permanency. They end up unable to really connect with people. That makes it very easy to rob or kill others. And by the way....what your group said about caseworkers is so true. People drawn to that line of work have very interesting personalities." - long-time Oregon teacher and former Children's Services volunteer.

"You've gotta understand about social workers. Through my work in the community, I've gotten to know four of them. Each one of them is about as screwed up as you can get. I wouldn't leave my dog with them. But, they're the personality type that's drawn into that line of work. That's just the way it is." - Colorado businessman

"The good caseworkers don't last long. They're driven out by the nature of the work. What's mostly left are those who were abused themselves as children, or those who enjoy the power." - Corvallis, Oregon family attorney

"I have worked with the system for many years now and have grown to believe our SCF system needs to be terminated completely. I am and have been chaplain of our city police department since 1988. Prior to pastoring, my wife and I operated a crisis center and worked with the old CSD." - experienced Oregon pastor

"Teenagers in foster care often call the abuse line, hoping an investigation will allow them to return to their parents, which almost all children prefer to foster care. Children know that even the worst parents love them." - Foster Parent Trainer, as quoted in I Would Be Loved.

"These people (SCF) are just like the Nazis. They do evil, with a clear conscience." - Joseph, an 85 year-old Nazi concentration camp survivor now residing in Corvallis, Oregon.

"Mommy, Mommy, They're raping me!" Then click and a dial tone. - a 2:30 am. call to Alma Kidd. Her 14-year, old daughter, Norma "Hope" Robbins, was trapped in a Washington state foster-care home. Kidd immediately reported the incident to police. Police said, "Ms. Kidd, you're in Washington State now. They can chain her 24 hours, seven days a week, and there is nothing you can do about it." Reported in InsightMagazine, November 24,1997

"Is there a problem with the state wrongly prosecuting parents who spank? Yes, absolutely. My office alone gets ten to twenty cases per year of Criminal Mistreatment 1. Most of these are loving parents with good families." – top Portland area criminal defense attorney.

"The system clearly hates spanking. It wants spanking eliminated from the face of the earth." - Corvallis family counselor.

"Oh, all kids, or nearly all of them, ask to be taken home. Of course, we just can't allow that. I deal with it by not asking that sort of question..." Idaho Guardian Ad Litem, a person supposed to purely consider the best interest of the child in all court proceedings.

"Take this little boy I was telling you about. His mother is basically a nice person, she just has men who beat him. We've had him since he was three, he's five now. He's a real handful. He kicks, he screams, he curses up a storm... Uhm, well, no, he wasn't like that when we took him." - Idaho Guardian Ad Litem.

"I got my kids back 22 months after being acquitted on a wrongful charge of child abuse. That only happened because I spent tens of thousands of dollars with attorneys, and was able to obtain videotape which showed my children living in squalor. The kids I got back weren't the kids who left, let me tell you. Children's Services has no interest in preserving families. It roams the halls of justice like a lion, seeking families to devour" - a Pennsylvania father of three.

"On a single anonymous tip of physical abuse, SCF and the cops showed up to my brother's house. When he denied entry, they cuffed him, then took his kids upstairs and strip-searched them. They found no marks. They took the kids anyway. My brother and his wife have no criminal record. They were never charged with a crime. His supporters included neighbors and the kids' pediatrician. It didn't matter. That was in 1995. He still doesn't have his kids back. The system is mad." - Oregon software engineer. (more on this case)

"I spanked my child in the school parking lot, because I’d told him if he continued his misbehavior at school, that’s just what I’d do. That afternoon SCF and cops showed up at my house. They nearly took my son. They charged me with Assault, then made me attend counseling for nearly a year. I had to pay for this, and I’m not a rich man. My job was constantly in jeopardy. I’d like to help you, Mr. Gilman. But, I’m terrified to get involved with those people again. I don’t think my family could stand it. Good luck." - an individual in this area who had a run-in with SCF.

"In 1989, I answered a knock on the door, only to be thrown on the ground by two police officers who held me at gunpoint, while social workers entered my home and stripped my son naked to see if he had bruises, as my divorcing wife had alleged. He did not have any bruises. My lawyer told me that social workers were immune and there was nothing that I could do. The police were apparently acting at the behest of the social workers and were therefore also immune." - Stuart Miller, who later became a legislative analyst for American Fathers Coalition.

"I have written about child abuse for many years and have been very zealous in my belief that abusers should be stopped. One of the reasons I have felt so strongly about this is that I was an abused child. But recently, I met a family who had their children taken from them by SRS (social rehabilitative services) and after a three-year court battle lost their children forever. If they had actually been guilty of child abuse, this would have been a good thing. But I am almost certain that they were not guilty. The parents were never charged. They never had a trial." - Kansas journalist

"The case is full of unbelievable tales of denial of due process, incompetence, and just plain vengeful behavior on the part of social workers, none of whom, predictably, have children of their own. The experience has cost the Dad one job, thousands of dollars, and has left the children emotionally scarred". - California attorney, whose first case with Children's Services gave him the willies.

"Apologize for what? Your wife brought this all on herself by assaulting your daughter and by refusing entry to your home to my deputies. Under identical circumstances, we’d do it the same way again." Chief Lieutenant John Chilcote of Benton County Sheriff’s Department, when asked for an apology to the children for the damage caused by his deputies’ kicking in a family's door without a warrant, roughing up the wife, and making off with daughter Alexandra.

"SCF is willfully blind to incredible damage they cause by separating healthy families. I’ve had people inside the system say my wife definitely abused our daughter by a hard spanking. In the next breath, they ask idly how our family is ‘dealing with the separation’. These individuals are mentally ill, but they are in charge. Frankly, it’s terrifying." – John Gilman

"Daddy, I don't want to go to the doctor about my head. I'm afraid they'll take me again!" - an injured, fearful Alexandra Gilman pleads against medical care, nearly a year after she was forcefully removed from her home.

"We found out firsthand in our case that the government institutions really do believe that our children belong to them. We have to be able to protect our families." - Robert Calabretta; father of the California family whose suit against Children's Services resulted in a landmark 9th Circuit decision cracking open the door of caseworker immunity.

"I volunteer at a Child's Crisis Center and see the need for help in truly abusive cases but am appalled at the misuse of power. The CPS workers look like high school kids playing big shot with people's lives." - system volunteer in Nashville, TN

"I have been a social worker for 10 years and have worked with state agencies. I have known very few good social workers....if people could witness from the inside the incompetence, belief systems, and agendas of those with power, they would be really afraid." - New Jersey social worker, World magazine, August 5th, 2000.

"For example, in one case I'm involved with, the social worker had the mom sign a contract that says she won't spank (or do anything physical) to the children. The kids, now 5 and 7, have learned that mom has no authority over them. They also have learned how to manipulate the adults around them, how to "tell on" mom whenever she does something they don't like, and how to do things for shock effect on adults in authority. It will be a long slow process to get this mother and two daughters to truly be a family again." - California family advocate with a PhD in Developmental Psychology.

"I rented my house to a Salem SCF caseworker. She had four kids, obviously from different fathers. I realized there was a problem when I got a letter from my neighbors, telling me her kids were running wild and breaking things. She broke the toilet and several windows. There was food all over the walls. The basement stank of cat. They lived like animals. She was always late in her payments, that's how we finally evicted her." - Corvallis, Oregon landlord.

Famous quotes about power

NO accountabilty, NO oversight.
Jeffreys Law , Real over sight for the CAS. Ask for it.

Anonymous said...

Afterwards, Toronto's chief Crown attorney, Paul Culver, said the role played by the Catholic Children Aid's Society was critical in Jeffrey's death.

"I was shocked and surprised at the low level of co-operation this society gave to the homicide investigators and later to the prosecutors in the case," he said later outside of court.

Any parent that has dealt with CAS is not shocked at all. The Government needs to be sued, they know Minister Chambers is misleading the public.
WE KNOW THE MORE THE SCREW UP, THE MORE WE FUND THEM WITH TAX DOLLARS.
WE KNOW IN ALL BILLS PASSED. with regards to child welfare, and so called wellbing, there is no real debate, just accusations if you ask a question you dont care about children, real SHAME, THEY DONT SEE THE EFFECTS OF WHAT THEY LEGISLATE.
they dont even define negelgt, risk of harm is everything, cas can remove a child for any reason because OF concerns, and will never tell anyone what the concerns are, not even the lawyer, not even the judges, to protect whom??

WE CAN READ THE MINUTES OF THE LEGISLTOR, AND ITS VERY CONCERNING.
SOCIAL WORKERS ARRESTED, STEALING MONEY, NO SHOCKED THERE UNETHICAL.
AND IT CAN ALL BE COVERED UP.

PARENTS RELATIVES GOING BROKE, SUFFER LONG TERM EFFECTS FROM FALSE ALLIGATIONS, THERE IS NO DUE PROCESS.
WHO IS REALLY TO BLAME, THE GOVERNEMNT IS. THEY ALL KNOW AND HAVE KNOWN FOR MANY YEARS, THIS IS A SYSTEM THAT NEEDS TO BE TAKEN DOWN.

Anonymous said...

The truth of the matter is that
> with no public hearings, all we can do is read the final report of the
> expert panel the government put together. Here is a government with no
> respect for Her Majesty's loyal opposition or the role that an opposition
> plays in the House. We need to see, through a public hearings system, that
> people come forward to speak openly and freely about what they feel is
wrong
> with a bill that will then affect all of our lives. Why can we not have
the
> comments -
>
> Mr Wayne Wettlaufer (Kitchener): Why didn't you let it pass in
> December?
>
> Mrs Pupatello: The member for Kitchener ought to know better,
because
> this government, even in December, would not have allowed hearings. I
think
> you should get your facts straight before you shoot your mouth off. There
> are comments here from the -
>
> Interjections.

Anonymous said...

In closing, I would like not only to thank the members of the
ministry
> staff for their work on this, but I would also like to recognize that we
> have in the gallery here this evening with us many of the individuals who
> helped us prepare these amendments: Mary McConville, Sandy Moshenko, both
> from the Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies; Terry Daley,
with
> the Toronto Catholic CAS; Melanie Persaud, who is also with the
association;
> Bruce Rivers, who is with the Toronto CAS; Kristina Reitmeier, with the
> Toronto CAS; and Marv Bernstein, with the Toronto Catholic CAS. Also, from
> the expert panel, we have with us tonight Professor Nico Trocmé, and I
> understand his son Paul is with him in the gallery tonight; also, Theresa
> Ortiz and Dr Harriet MacMillan, who were very instrumental in helping us
> move forward in our reforms.

THE GOVERNMENT THANKS THEM FOR TEARING FAMILYS APART, AND PUTTING CHILDREN AT MORE RISK. AND FUNDS THEM. BUT OVER SIGHT NO WAY, THERE IN BED WITH THEM

Anonymous said...

Anyone with half a brain is horrified at the CAS and their lack of accountability.

COPS
PROSECUTION
JUDGE

Are you listening Minister Chambers???

Baldwin grandparents sentenced to life in prison

Updated Fri. Jun. 9 2006 1:07 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Two Toronto grandparents found guilty of second-degree murder in the starving death of their five-year-old grandson have been sentenced to life in prison with no hope for parole for at least 20 years.

Elva Bottineau, 54, was sentenced to 22 years before becoming eligible parole, while her common-law husband Norman Kidman, 53, was handed 20 years, said Superior Court Justice David Watt.

"The inhumanity revealed here has shocked the community," Watt said. "They must pay a very steep price."

But the couple will be eligible to apply to have their sentences lowered after just 15 years under the so-called faint hope clause.

Reaction to sentences

Crown Attorney Paul Culver was pleased with the sentences.

"It was a great judicial reaction to an indescribable situation. Jeffrey was totally ignored during his life and certainly wasn't afterwards. It was a great investigation, a great prosecution," Culver said shortly after the sentencing.

Second-degree murder carries an automatic life term, but the judge could have set parole eligibility after as little as 10 years.

Bottineau and Kidman were found guilty in April for the death of five-year-old Jeffrey Baldwin.

The horrid living conditions that led to Baldwin's death in 2002 have been described as one of the worst cases of child abuse in the country's history.

Jeffrey and his siblings were put in the care of Bottineau and Kidman while the Catholic Children's Aid Society (CCAS) probed allegations of abuse by their birth parents.

Instead, court heard the couple used Jeffrey and his sister to draw income through government support cheques while they were confined to a cold, fetid room each night.

Court was told Jeffrey was hidden away in the unheated bedroom for as long as 14 hours a day, and forced to dig through garbage to find food and use the toilet for drinking water.

The boy, who was called "Pig" by his grandparents, weighed an emaciated 21 pounds when he died just short of his sixth birthday in November 2002, weighing less than he did when he turned one.

Officially, he died of starvation and septic shock.

Worried about future

Jeffrey's maternal grandmother said she wonders about the suffering the boy experienced and worries about how his sister will deal with what she experienced.

"I can't imagine what he must have felt," Susan Dimitriades said Friday. "I can't imagine how he lived under that condition and his sister too. Like the judge said, the sister has to deal with what happened to her, and maybe the rest of her life will never be the same."

When authorities rescued Jeffrey's sister from the squalor, she too was showing signs of starvation with a distended belly and open sores.

Bottineau and Kidman were also found guilty of forcible confinement for the sister's care.

Although Jeffrey and his sister lived in squalor, the living quarters for the other children were normal, court was told.

Bottineau's lawyer Anil Kapoor, had argued his client was mentally handicapped with a personality disorder that prevented her from seeing Jeffrey waste away.

No cooperation

Homicide investigator Mike Davis expressed frustration with the CCAS outside the courthouse Friday. He said the agency provided "little - if any - cooperation" during the investigation of Jeffrey's death.

Davis said there are "policies and procedures" for organizations such as police and the CCAS, "and at no time did I see any cooperation whatsoever with the Catholic Children's Aid Society."

"This is something that only a public inquiry can look into and look into the systemic issues that are underlying with the Catholic Children's Aid Society," Davis said.

"We were and continue to be shocked and surprised by the level of cooperation that was given by the various children's agencies," Culver said.

After last month's guilty verdict, Ontario's chief coroner announced an inquest will be held, which will look into how the system failed to protect Jeffrey and the involvement of the CCAS.

It is alleged the CCAS did not do a background check on the grandparents prior to the placement. Each of them has previous child abuse convictions.

No date has been set for the start of the inquest.

Anonymous said...

WELCOME TO NEANDERTHALL ONTARIO, THE LAUGHING STOCK OF THE WORLD!

Grandparents sentenced in child starving

TORONTO, June 9 (UPI) -- Two Canadian grandparents were sentenced to at least 20 years in prison Friday for starving their 5-year-old grandson to death.
Norman Kidman and his wife, Elva Bottineau, both 54, were convicted in Toronto in April of second-degree murder. Their grandson Jeffrey Baldwin weighed 21 pounds when he died suffering from septic shock, malnutrition and bacterial pneumonia, CBC News reported.
The Toronto Globe and Mail said the two were sentenced to life in prison by Superior Court Judge David Watt, but will be allowed to apply for parole after about 20 years.
The boy's grandparents had kept him locked in a bedroom covered with his own waste, and he had to drink from the toilet, CBC said.
The Catholic Children's Aid Society chose the couple to look after Jeffrey and his siblings because the birth parents were abusive, but Kidman and Bottineau used the children to get government support checks, prosecutors said.
At sentencing, the judge said the "inhumanity revealed here has shocked the community."

Copyright Political Gateway 2006©
Copyright United Press International 2006

Anonymous said...

I can't believe they even received parole. I am so dissapointed in Judge Watt's decision.

Anonymous said...

The 2 of them should have been hanged, at the least both deserved the full 25 years, that being said the sentence is high which is good.

How can there even be justice for such a horror, the poor little sweetheart, he was an angel.

Kudo's to those who attended the sentence. Let us not ever forget that beautiful angel.

Anonymous said...

Andre Marin will be on Global National at 5:30PM tonight to comment on the sentence and the CAS's lack of accountability.
Gail Scala
Manager of Communications at Ombudsman Ontario
gscala@ombudsman.on.ca

Anonymous said...

If you have children give them a thousand kisses and hugs today. If you don't support those who do, and appreciate how precious and beautiful all children are.

Anonymous said...

I just saw CTV news, and thanks to the Ombudsman and office for posting this. Yes it is a catastrophe, beyond description. One wonders if this was done ON PURPOSE, AND MOST WOULD NOT PUT IT PAST THEM. It is an EVIL agency. Always has been, and in fact the lot of them should be in jail with the murderers. Mary and her pathetic appearance simply disgusts me. That putrid agency DID NOT COOPERATE. Secret powers, secret crimes.

Dirty rotten bastards, may they burn in hell for sending him to that house.

Anonymous said...

I am glad that the OMBUDSMAN stood up for Jeffrey and the NDP as to date the Liberal government has done NOTHING PERIOD TO STOP THIS MADNESS. After all the adopted a legal clause by the former chief attorney who defended the Toronto CCAS for over 20 years. Not corrupt, give me a break.

The Liberal governnment should go down over this, and for those that want John Tory and co. in ....... think again they just want to bury it all.

Anonymous said...

It was good to see Fred Crotta asking for the death penalty for this - and for those that want to judge him. How WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE ABUSED BY YOUR OWN MOTHER, AND THE SUBSTITUTE PARENTS ON TOP OF THAT OVERALL.

He came forward, it took courage.

To the family that never knew.. I canmot imagine the horror of this for you.

Does anyone wonder why Jeffrey was sent to a vile abuser rather then his other grandmother?

Could it be that they WANTED TO MAKE A CASE SO AGAINST FAMILY PRESERVATION THAT THEY DID THIS ON PURPOSE AS IT WOULD SHORT CUT THEIR BUSINESS?

Wouldn't put anything past them, dirty, rotten bastards.

An evil agency, attracts those who are evil doesn't it?

Anonymous said...

The entire basis of child welfare is bad blood, yet that fucking agency never did a home study after removing Jeffrey and his siblings for alleged child abuse. And the couple in question may have had problems, but they ignored the "mantra" of their putrid operation in this. IF THE CAS BELIEVES ANYONE TO BE EVIL AS THEY ARE RELATED TO THE CHILD - AS GOD FORBID THEIR PARENTS HAD PRE-MARITAL SEX - GREAT TABOO TO BE CRUCIFIED OVER - THEN IS IT NOT THAT MORE SUSPECT THAT THEY NEVER EVEN CHECKED THE HOME?

Many believe THIS WAS DONE ON PURPOSE..............

BURN IN HELL MARY YOU PURTID LYING FUCK.

Good for you Mike Davis, a loving caring man - and a policeman that we need more of.

Anonymous said...

Mary and the scumbag worker should be in JAIL OVER THIS. Evil agency, always has been, dirty rotten thieves, monster killing liars.

Anonymous said...

Toronto CCAS BURN IN HELL. EVIL PARASITE MONSTERS.

Anonymous said...

My heart goes out to Mike Davis, a good man, his heart must be reeling from this horror. He is honest, he is truthful, and for that matter so is Andre Marin.

And no Mary you scumbag whore that hates men, not all are evil, but you ARE.

Anonymous said...

I will be there June 20th can you just post exactly where it is so people know where to go that may be coming to T.O for the first time Thankyou.

Anonymous said...

Just tears and feelings of helplessness.
I pray for Jeffery as often as I remember him.
I pray for his siblings in hopes that they are now well taken care of, and that someone is checking on their home life on a regular basis.
I'm so angry, and I can't get over the feeling. I ask God why? Why did he let this happen to Jeffery and his siblings? Why didn't he send a sane, compassionate, intelligent person Jeffery's way. Maybe another mother. All he needed was one person to look at him and raise a flag and call the authorities. He would have been saved.
I know it's all too little too late, but I can't stop thinking about him. I can't stop feeling this way.
Does anyone know what's happening with his siblings? Are they separated from each other or are they together? Who's caring for them?
I have a 2 year old and another on the way, I can't imagine how any human being can look a child in their innocent and dependent eyes and be indifferent or even harm them.
I feel helpless in the face of all evil in this world. What can I do?????

Anonymous said...

I think about Jeffrey all the time.I pray for him every day and wish that he was still alaive so I could let him know how much he is wanted and needed.I have twins 4yrs old and I wish that Jeffrey could be a part of our family.In a way he is when I think of him.Often I stop myself when I'm eating and my stomach turns thinking that he could join in on our meals and play trips.This is so unfair.So many people would die to have a beautiful child like Jeffrey.As to his siblings I heard that they are in foster homes but are seperated from eachother.I pray that they are well.

Tyrone Ferrara said...

Revelation 13:5 - Are we in this 42 month period?

Anonymous said...

Until recently, I didn't realize that it was the Peel Region CAS that was audited by the Auditor Genral. I am not surprised the CAS gets away with murder. Beside the fact the Society has almost zero dicernment when it comes to weeding out abusers, an employee...a supervisor with the Peel Region CAS no less...who by the way, sits on a committee that addresses gender based violence, has been battering a little girl for years. Child Protection and Family Court documents confirm that this supervisor with the Peel Region CAS has hit, pinched, pushed and dragged this little girl when this supervisor is angry. This child regularly disclosed to both Police and CAS over a period of years that this abusive woman has battered, humiliated, devalued, threatened and degraded her over and over again. Despite these disclosures to both Toronto Police and the York Region Children's Aid Society, this woman has yet to be charged with any offence. Even a private charge of assault that was laid has mysteriously gone "missing" from Newmarket Criminal Court files. Most likely because she's married to an abusive Police Officer who's more concerned about his wallet than his own daughter...What a disgrace!!!

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