Ex-husband unfit to be parent: mom

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This article was published 27/06/2009 (6175 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A mother who encouraged white-supremacist racism in her daughter testified at her children’s custody hearing on Friday, insisting her estranged husband is not fit to be a parent.

In shackles because she had been arrested the day before on five charges related to credit card fraud, she levelled a list of accusations against the man who is the biological father of her son and stepfather of her daughter.

She said he has had a heroin relapse. He was fired from a security job in a hotel earlier this year when he used an ethnic insult on a patron. She once came home from work to find a babysitter caring for the children and their father passed out drunk and naked in the bathroom. He is an incurable drinker and often keeps a beer in the cupholder of his car. He recently put a knife to his throat and threatened to kill himself in front of her, she said.

“I would say he’s like a child, but that’s an insult to children,” said the woman.

Court heard Friday that Winnipeg police arrested the woman, who has so far been absent from the hearings, on five charges related to credit card fraud since October 2008. She told the court she needed to appear right away because her bail conditions dictate she must return to her home out of province immediately.

The mother acknowledged to the judge she is not equipped to care for her eight-year-old daughter and three-year-old son.

But she also said she does not want her estranged husband to have them.

She said the seizure of their children by Manitoba Child and Family Services has not stopped the man from getting drunk, smoking pot, or living in a filthy bedroom “filled with garbage” at his parents’ house.

Earlier this year, the woman said the man told her he relapsed on heroin and showed her a needle mark on his arm.

“I have seen absolutely no change in him or in his behaviour whatsoever,” she said.

The woman testified she wants the foster mother who has helped care for the children to be awarded custody.

CFS is seeking a permanent order of guardianship for the two children, based in part on alleged emotional damage caused by their parents’ racist beliefs. The woman told court Friday she was a supporter of the “white pride” movement.

She referred to using the word “n –” after fighting with a group of youths at a bowling alley, alleging they called her a derogatory name.

“You’re called a racial slur, you’re going to say one back,” she said.

However, she said it’s her estranged husband’s chronic drinking and difficulty holding down a job that broke up their family.

She told court a babysitter discovered the man passed out naked in a bathroom after drinking heavily. The babysitter stayed six hours until the woman returned home, she testified.

The woman admits she made mistakes, such as sending her daughter to school with a swastika drawn on the girl’s arm.

“I tried the best I could but I made some very poor decisions,” she said.

She said she debated leaving her husband soon after they married in 2005, but changed her mind.

“I didn’t want to be the one who had two kids from two separate dads, and was a single mom still,” she said.

The woman moved in March to another province, where’s she has remained until recently.

The woman was charged with one count of theft from mail, two counts of personation with intent to gain advantage, and two counts of illegally using credit card data. She was granted bail by a judge who said she must agree to conditions like turning over her passport and keeping a nightly curfew.

The woman’s mother testified earlier in the custody trial her daughter had illicitly used a credit card in her name and racked up $22,000 in debt.

The custody court case continues Monday.

gabrielle.giroday@freepress.mb.ca