Death Concealed

May 27, 2006 permalink

The death of a foster child was concealed from his family according to Canada Court Watch, whose truthful reports stay within the law by withholding names.

The new Child and Family Services Act, enacted but not yet in force, says that a child protection order ends with the death of a child. [That was a proposal never enacted]. That will make it lawful for news sources to identify the child by name. We hope the reverend Dorian Baxter will provide the name of the dead child as soon as possible.

No social worker has been held accountable for harm to her ward, even fatal harm, and this case will be no exception. The Child and Family Services Act provides:

15 (6). No action shall be instituted against an officer or employee of a society for an act done in good faith in the execution or intended execution of the person’s duty or for an alleged neglect or default in the execution in good faith of the person’s duty. R.S.O. 1990, c. C.11, s. 15 (6).

A delay in reporting death results in the destruction of the most important evidence, the body. That can hardly be construed as "an act done in good faith". While there will be no criminal prosecution, a civil suit against the social workers involved might have some success.

Here is the unabridged account from Canada Court Watch:

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Family believes that CAS covered up death of child in foster care

(May 25, 2006) A family member called Court Watch today to report that they had just found out a few days ago that a child of this family who had been taken away by the CAS in Ontario had died while in the care of foster parents. The family was never informed of the death. At one time, family members reported seeing the child with dried blood in his ears and bruises on the child's body while in care and noticed other signs of trauma to the child but that their concerns were discounted by child protection workers. The family was told that this was only a case of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The family believe that the death was a cover-up to protect the agency involved. An investigation by authorities into this death has been commenced in the aftermath of the death of little Jeffrey Baldwin while in care of the CAS.

Source: Canada Court Watch