7-year-old's death prompts lawsuit against Quebec youth protection dept.
WARNING -- This story contains details some may find distressing
A lawsuit is being filed against Quebec's department of youth protection three years after a seven-year-old Granby, Que. girl died while in the care of her father and stepmother in April, 2019.
“They failed to protect the child,” said Valerie Assouline, the lawyer representing the girl’s mother and grandmother. “They failed to protect that seven-year-old little girl.”
Assouline says her clients warned youth protection about their concerns for the young girl's welfare several times since 2015, when the girl, then age four, was sent by youth protection to live with her father.
The seven-year-old died after she was bound with tape on April 29 under the pretext that she had tried several times to flee the residence. The child's stepmother added more tape around the girl in the father's absence.
When the father returned home after work, he found the girl unconscious on the kitchen floor and called emergency services.
Her 32-year-old father pleaded guilty to a charge of false imprisonment and was sentenced to four years in jail. Her stepmother was found guilty of the unpremeditated murder and of unlawful confinement, she was sentenced to at least 13 years without parole. She filed for an appeal in Jan. 2022.
The girl’s death caused outrage in Quebec. The effectiveness of the child protection system was called into question.
Assouline expects to file the suit within the coming weeks. She says a claim amount has not yet been decided.
The lawsuit will also target specific caseworkers who, according to Assouline, failed to do their jobs.
There were seven police visits to the home, and the girl’s school services center also reportedly had concerns. Eventually, the girl's father and stepmother started home-schooling her – something Assouline called a missed opportunity to intervene.
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