Beaten girl, 3, left to die

WARNING -- Details of this case may offend some readers.

SWAN RIVER -- A young mother admits she ignored horrific injuries on her three-year-old daughter and refused to get medical care as the girl suffered in silence and died only months after being returned to the mother from foster care.

Melissa Audy, 25, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to failing to provide the necessities of life and was sentenced to one year in jail as part of a plea bargain between Crown and defence lawyers. She is vowing to fight to regain custody of three other children upon her release from custody.

The facts of Venecia Audy's tragic August 2006 death in the village of Bowsman, about 20 kilometres north of Swan River, have become public for the first time. The case and several other deaths had previously sparked a review of Manitoba's child-welfare system.

Audy was originally charged with second-degree murder, but that was dropped Wednesday. Lawyers said the medical evidence made it clear the mother did not inflict the numerous injuries on the undersized, 27-pound child -- including a fractured skull, lacerated liver, bruised ribs and 13 fresh deep bite marks all over Venecia's body. There was also evidence of older bite marks and that the child's mouth had been smothered to prevent screaming, court was told.

Audy's former boyfriend, Jason Allen Kines, is charged in the killing. He had previously been charged with aggravated sexual assault. His case remains before the courts and he is presumed innocent.

"These injuries must have cried out for treatment," a visibly disturbed provincial court Judge Christine Harapiak said after hearing the facts of Audy's guilty plea.

Court was told Audy has a long history with Child and Family Services that began when she gave birth to her oldest child when she was 15.

Three more kids, including Venecia, quickly followed. The father of the two youngest children was an abusive man who was in jail at the time of the death for assaulting Audy.

Audy attempted to abort one of her children in 2002 by stabbing herself in the stomach, court was told. She was deemed unfit to parent and the children were placed with an extended family member in July 2003 as part of a voluntary order.

Audy began fighting to regain custody in 2004 and ultimately went to court. Defence lawyer Greg Brodsky said a family court judge eventually ordered the children be returned to his client in March 2006. Audy believed her kids were being abused by the foster parent, who is the sister of the biological father of the two youngest kids. The foster parent made similar abuse allegations against Audy, court was told.

"There are a lot of bitter feelings between (Audy and the former foster parent)," Brodsky told court Wednesday.

Audy called 911 just after 6 p.m. on the night of Aug. 14, claiming Venecia was having trouble breathing after tumbling down some steps while playing outside the home.

"She fell and she's not moving," said Audy, who was calm at first, but became increasingly emotional as the minutes passed by. Eventually, Audy said her daughter had no pulse and began giving CPR as the dispatcher talked her through it.

"This is really suspicious," the dispatcher said at one point after Audy admitted the girl was covered with bruises, many of them from other incidents.

Audy later admitted to police she lied about the fall and said Venecia was injured earlier that morning. Her boyfriend went for dialysis treatment around 11 a.m. and Audy said she knew the girl needed medical care, but was afraid to call. She waited about seven hours before doing so. Audy said she hoped Venecia would just "recover from this like she had in the past."

"This is obviously a very tragic circumstance for all involved. She made a decision that day she is going to have to pay for, for the rest of her life, in more ways than one," Crown attorney Donovan Dvorak told court.

Brodsky said his client was shocked when she was initially charged with the murder based on the belief of police that she had "exclusive opportunity" to inflict the injuries.

Harapiak said Wednesday it's possible Audy could have saved her daughter's life by getting prompt medical care.

"Watching and waiting for a miracle when a child so obviously needs medical treatment is something society won't accept," she said. "She will never know... if the result could have been different."

Audy, wearing dark jeans, a grey sweater and with her black hair pulled back in a pony tail, showed little emotion during the two-hour hearing. However, she tearfully embraced her stepfather and other family members while having a cigarette break outside court as the judge considered her decision.

Audy had spent a month in custody following her arrest, which was given double-time credit of two months. Harapiak has sentenced the mother to another 12 months behind bars, effective immediately. Brodsky said his client "absolutely" plans to fight to get her three children back once she is released, likely in a few months.

After Venecia's death, provincial officials admitted she had once been a client of CFS. A spokesman for then family services minister Christine Melnick initially said the CFS file had been dormant for more than two years. He later stated the department uncovered more recent contact with Venecia, but there was no child protection involvement during the 12 months before her death.

The provincial government asked Children's Advocate Billie Schibler to look into the case and those of 15 other children who died in 2004 and 2005 while receiving CFS services.

One of those was the case of five-year-old Phoenix Sinclair. The girl had been in and out of foster care most of her life and was killed in June 2005, three months after her CFS case file was closed. Her death was not noticed until March 2006, after her 12-year-old stepbrother came forward. The little girl's mother and her mother's former common-law boyfriend have since been convicted of first-degree murder.

Schibler was asked to investigate the policies around social worker caseloads, and case file openings, closings and transfers. The province's four CFS authorities asked social workers to do a face-to-face head count of all 12,000-plus children in care and those receiving services from CFS to ensure they were safe and accounted for.

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Those who have died

MANITOBA children involved with Child and Family Services who have been killed since mid-2005

Phoenix Sinclair, 5

Died June 11, 2005, but wasn't discovered until March 2006. Phoenix was in and out of foster care most of her life. In 2005, she was living with her mom, Samantha Ke­match, and her mother's common-law boyfriend, Karl McKay, in Fisher River.

Despite allegations of abuse, Winnipeg CFS closed Phoenix's case just a few months before she died from repeated beatings, neglect and confinement in a basement. McKay and Kematch were convicted of first-degree murder last fall.

Roanna Meagan Fontaine, 14

Died June 24, 2007 while in the care of Peguis CFS.

Roanna was found dead outside a North End residence following a party. According to a source, an incident involving an older man left the 14-year-old so distraught that she jumped from a sixth-floor balcony. Fontaine and her 16-year-old sister were on a weekend visit to Win­nipeg to attend the Red River Ex. Her death prompted many in Peguis to slam their local branch of Child and Family Services, saying that despite repeated warnings the girl was at risk, the agency did nothing.

Gage Guimond, 2

Died July 22, 2007 while in the care of Sagkeeng CFS.

Gage and his sister were taken from their mother and sent to live with an experienced foster family shortly after Gage's first birthday. In the winter of 2007, he was moved from that fos­ter home to live with his grandmother, who warned CFS workers she wasn't able to care for him, and where he was neglected. He was eventually placed with his great aunt, Shirley Guimond, where he died six weeks later from severe head trauma. Shirley Guimond has been charged with manslaughter.

Fonessa Lynn Louise Bruyere, 17

August 30, 2007 while in the care of Sagkeeng CFS. At the time of her killing, Fonessa had been in and out of foster care. The system returned Fonessa to a family member's home less than three months before she died, despite allegations she would be exposed to drugs and prostitution. Fonessa struggled with drugs and the sex trade before her body was found in a field on the outskirts of Winnipeg. No one has been charged with her death.

Samuel Luke Maytwaywashing, 5 months

Died March 26, 2008 while in the care of Anishinaabe CFS. Samuel died in his Lake Manitoba reserve home of what his mother said was pneumonia. But sources said the infant was dehydrated, had a high fever and was possibly malnourished. His four siblings were seized just before Samuel was born but he was left in his mother's care.

Cameron Ouskan, 13 months

Died Nov. 13, 2008 while in the care of Awasis CFS.

Cameron was living in a foster home in Gillam when he died. RCMP said they believe Ouskan's death was a homicide. The chief medical examiner said he had multiple fractures when he died.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 9, 2009 A3