A man and woman who locked their nephew in a squalid bedroom for up to two years won't be sentenced until September.
At the London courthouse on Tuesday, the 51-year-old woman and 45-year-old man watched and listened as the details of their crimes were read into the court records. They pleaded guilty in May to charges of forcible confinement and failing to provide the necessaries of life.
The couple was arrested and charged after police were called to their Asima Dr. home on May 29, 2014. When officers arrived, they found the couple's then ten-year-old nephew living in filthy conditions in a bedroom of the home. He was wearing urine-soaked clothing and had long unwashed hair. An investigation determined he had been locked in the room for up to two years, living on two meals of fast food each day.
More details emerged in court on Tuesday. In an agreed statement of facts, the court was told that the door to the boy's room could only be opened and locked from the outside, while requiring a key to open from the inside.
The boy was undernourished and doctors found him to be under the general weight guidelines of a healthy 10-year-old boy. Although doctors found no signs of physical abuse, such as bruises or bone fractures, the boy did have dry and dirty skin, a result of not bathing for about one year.
The couple had a young girl of their own living in the house, who didn’t even know the name of the boy locked in the master bedroom, and who was “not supposed to talk about [the boy]”. After her parents were arrested, both children were seized by the Children’s Aid Society, who placed them in separate foster homes.
It was made evident in the courtroom that the couple complied with police requests at every step of the investigation, albeit with the aid of a Korean translator. After their interrogations and continued investigation, it was determined that the boy had been sent to Canada with his grandparents in May of 2010. This was done on behalf of the boy’s father, who was still living in Korea. After his wife’s death in 2007, he claimed he was unable to support the boy. A request was put out to the couple living in Canada to care for the boy, and they accepted.
The couple claims that the boy’s last time out of the house was in 2013, after the aunt injured her shoulder and believed that she was “unable to control” the boy. The couple then locked him in his room.
The boy's victim impact statement outlined how he has been doing much better since he's been in the care of the CAS. He has gained weight, is happy, and has numerous friends as a result of rehabilitation by his foster family.
Defence lawyer Damon Hardy says the couple realizes the full weight of their crime.
"The reality of the severity of this case has never been lost on either of them so, I don't think they're taken by surprise by anything,” says Hardy. “They're obviously very, very concerned, and I hope it was clear, very remorseful for their involvement in this matter and their actions."
Whie not excusing their actions, Hardy offered a potential explanation, saying they were undergoing extreme financial hardships after the failure of some business ventures.
"They had some real financial setbacks that lasted for some period of time, and it added to what was enormous personal stress in their lives at the time of the offense,” Hardy says. "They've never once professed that these reasons excuse in law or otherwise what they did. But I hope people understand that some of those factors were a contributing factor to what happened."
He thinks that the option of a conditional sentence will be appropriate for this case, although he admits that it is the judge’s decision how to approach the sentencing.
"A conditional sentence, I hope, in this particular case, will meet the ends of justice by taking into account and melding, as I suggested, sort of the punitive aspects of sentencing while taking into account and incorporating real restorative objectives of sentencing as well,” Hardy says. "The one thing the public doesn't see and doesn't understand is that there were hours and hours of very tearful discussions between both accused and the lawyers and others involved as well. I think it's important that people understand that that stuff does happen behind closed doors, and that you're not all privy to that."
The couple will be sentenced on September 21.
**This story was written by Samuel Gallant. Samuel is a student in the Fanshawe College broadcast journalism program. He is performing a summer internship with Blackburn News.**