Eight-year-old weighed 25 pounds, looked ‘like he was from Auschwitz’

When child welfare authorities arrived at his house, the eight-year-old boy was too weak to stand, so he was lying balled up on the floor, his body emaciated and skeletal, “like he was from Auschwitz.”

The boy’s father arrived at the house later that day, March 20, 2023, to find his wife and son gone and a Child and Family Services supervisor waiting.

The man was “yelling and irate,” says an agreed statement of facts provided to court this week.

“While (the girl’s) condition was less severe, she was on the same path as (her brother).”–Court documents

The man said “it was not like (the boy) was going to die today” and provided “no reasonable excuse for (his) condition.”

The 36-year-old man and his 37-year-old wife, who are parents to five children, have each pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing bodily harm in a case that has shocked veteran social workers and exposed concerning lapses in supports to protect vulnerable children.

The two accused cannot be named as it would identify their son and his younger sister, both of whom were “malnourished and suffering serious medical consequences” when they were seized by CFS workers.

“The two children had food aversions and the parents didn’t know how to deal with this, and didn’t seek assistance, while (the boy) deteriorated and was in obvious need of medical attention,” says the agreed statement of facts.

“While (the girl’s) condition was less severe, she was on the same path as (her brother),” the court document says.

Social workers who were present when the boy was taken from the home described him as appearing “close to death.” He weighed 25 pounds, had not used the toilet on his own for a year and had not walked independently for approximately 20 months.

The boy and his sister had not seen a doctor since they were infants and they had never been to the dentist.

A timeline laid out in the court document shows child welfare workers were provided the first hints of the boy’s precarious health as early as November 2020, yet it was more than two years later and after repeated failed efforts to persuade his mother to seek medical attention for the boy before steps were taken to remove him from the home.

None of the couple’s children attended school in 2021 or for the 2021-22 school year and there was no evidence they were being homeschooled, the court document says.

In November 2020, a school social worker visited the couple’s home to assess the boy for registration the following school year. The social worker observed the boy to be walking with a limp.

The social worker and a school resource teacher visited the home again in May 2021 and reported the boy was “mobile and walking around outside, although he was unsteady on his feet. He was not running or jumping like peers of his age and appeared to be small.”

In October 2021, as schools struggled to adapt to the pandemic, a school social worker visited the home again and found it “crowded with significant hoarding.”

The social worker said the boy “did not appear like a six- or seven-year-old should.”

“In response, (she) always brought up excuses, including not having a health card.”–Court documents

The boy’s mother claimed he had hip dysplasia and that they couldn’t get to a doctor due to the pandemic. The woman said the boy was “very picky” and that it was “hard to get food into him.”

In March 2022, CFS opened a protection file with the family, citing several concerns, including lack of schooling, poor parenting and improper supervision.

The mother registered her three oldest children for school in September 2022, but it wasn’t until January 2023 that she agreed to register her eight-year-old son and five-year-old daughter.

School staff reported seeing the woman carrying the boy to school “as he was not walking and was unable to support himself.”

The woman claimed the boy, who was still wearing a diaper, stopped walking during the pandemic “and she did not know why.” The woman told school staff she had not taken the boy to a doctor because he did not have a birth certificate or health card.

The boy moved around school using a stroller or tricycle or by “bum scooting” on the floor. A school psychotherapist reported that the boy “fatigued quickly and complained of being tired after crawling 15 feet.”

School staff expressed concern about the boy, who was seen to eat only one or two crackers or two bites of an apple. The boy’s mother said he was “a picky eater and does not eat a lot.”

School staff repeatedly encouraged the woman to seek medical help for the boy. “In response, (she) always brought up excuses, including not having a health card.”

School staff met with the boy’s parents on March 6, 2023, and “tried to press the urgency of the matter,” telling them the lack of a health card would not be an obstacle to medical treatment.

School staff agreed to write a letter the parents could take to a doctor explaining the situation. A plan was developed for the woman’s mother to care for the other four children while the boy’s parents took him to hospital.

A CFS social worker alerted to the plan and the boy’s condition said it would be considered medical neglect if he was not taken to a doctor.

When a social worker contacted the woman on March 20 to follow up, the woman said she had not taken the boy to a doctor, claiming her mother had been waylaid by a blizzard.

“The social worker did not believe there had been a blizzard and Child and Family Services later learned after speaking to the grandmother there had never been any plan,” says the agreed statement of facts.

“The social worker did not believe there had been a blizzard and Child and Family Services later learned after speaking to the grandmother there had never been any plan.”–Agreed statement of facts

That day, a CFS supervisor and social worker went to the boy’s house and found him “balled up” on a mattress, “pale and extremely underweight, with his ribs and spine visible.” The boy could only whisper and complained his “tummy hurt.”

The supervisor and social worker left the house and reported what they saw to school staff. The supervisor and a different social worker returned to the house later that day to seize the boy. His four siblings were seized the following day.

The social worker described the boy as “looking close to death” and “like he was from Auschwitz.” The supervisor said during his three-decade career in child protection, he had never seen a more severe case of neglect.

Questioned by investigators, the boy’s parents “appeared oblivious to the graveness of (his) condition.”

The boy’s older siblings said he was “normal” prior to the pandemic and described him as a “picky” eater who would scream when someone tried to feed him. They said his parents “gave up” trying to get him to eat about a year prior to his apprehension by CFS.

The boy’s mother said she knew he was malnourished and in pain “but did not know where to go for help.” The woman said she was afraid to take the boy to a doctor because “everyone would think it was her fault.”

The boy’s father described the situation as “definitely f——d.” He provided no explanation as to why the boy was never taken to a doctor.

The boy and his sister spent months in hospital being treated for chronic malnutrition and related ailments. A medical summary included in the agreed statement of facts suggests both children may suffer long-term cognitive impairment.

Sentencing dates for the two accused have not been set.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca