'Damn it, she was seven!' says judge in sentencing Granby girl's 'coward' father to four years

Quebec Superior Court Judge François Huot has sentenced a father to four years in prison for taping his seven-year-old daughter with duct tape hours before her death in the spring of 2019.

Before pronouncing the sentence, Judge Huot had scathing words for the accused, saying he had "delivered his daughter" right to the mistreatment of his spouse, the child's stepmother.

"You behaved like a deadbeat -- no, excuse me, like a coward, '' the judge said, adding "damn it, she was seven!"

"Over the next few months, you won't be around malnourished young girls: you will be up against men. I wish you a little more courage," added the judge.

"Know that your behaviour disgusts me to the highest point, as it disgusted the entire province of Quebec," said the judge before sending the man to prison.

The father will spend three and a half years behind bars, given the time he has already served.

The Crown and the defense submitted the sentencing recommendation to the court during proceedings on Friday at the Trois-Rivières courthouse.

The girl's stepmother has already been sentenced in the case and will serve at least 13 years without a chance of parole.

The 32-year-old man had pleaded guilty on Dec. 13 to a charge of forcible confinement, thus avoiding a trial for the three other charges, including criminal negligence causing the death of his own daughter.

The girl's mother gave a moving testimony by addressing her former spouse directly.

She left the courtroom in tears as the Crown read letters from the victim's family to the impassive man in the prisoner's box.

A few minutes later, she returned to address her former spouse.

"I was 21 years old, I wasn't mentally ready, does that make me a bad mother? No," she said, noting that the child was happy when she lived with her grandmother before youth protection gave the father custody of the victim.

'I CAN'T LOVE HER, I CAN'T FEEL HER'

Speaking directly to the man who was staring into the void before him, the child's mother asked: "Why did you want to take her away, if it was to agonize her, neglect her, take her away from a place where people really loved her?"

"Why is my daughter in an urn right now? Every day I get up, I see my daughter in an urn, I can't love her, I can't feel her, I can't care for her."

"Why are you able to hurt your own daughter?" she asked the man, who seemed indifferent to her remarks. "Because she looked like me?" 

"I tried everything for my daughter, but one person against a whole society can't win," she said, looking at the judge and blaming the Directeur de la protection de la jeunesse (DPJ) for the decision to take custody of the child from her paternal grandmother.

"I see a lot of suffering -- I only hope that over time you will be able to find inner peace," Justice Huot replied, adding that the woman "still has a wonderful responsibility" to take care of her other children.

"Don't give the accused the power to control your thoughts," he said, advising the woman to seek help from specialists.

"I wish you good luck, madam," the judge said. 

Before the mother's testimony, the Crown read letters from the victim's other relatives.

"This man, who was once my brother, rejected his own family, and also took away the chance for his children to be protected,' the accused's sister said in a letter read by a lawyer.

"He tore this little girl away from a loving and protected environment" where the little girl was "enveloped by people who loved her, to an environment where she was abused," she wrote, an environment "filled with fear and terror."

The name of the girl's father is shielded by a publication ban in order to protect the identity of the victim, but also that of the other children who lived in the house where the murder took place.

GIRL REPEATEDLY TRIED TO RUN AWAY

The stepmother, who was found guilty of the murder of the child and of unlawful confinement, will have to spend at least 13 years behind bars, according to Judge Louis Dionne's decision last December at the Trois-Rivières courthouse.

During the trial of the girl's stepmother, court heard that it was the father who had made the decision to confine his child with tape to prevent her from trying to run away from home again.

The man had put the child in restraint on the morning of April 29, 2019, before going to work, under the pretext that the girl had tried several times to flee the home. The child's stepmother then added more tape to the girl in the father`s absence.

When the father returned home in the morning, he found the girl unconscious on the kitchen floor and called 911. The girl died the next day at the hospital.

A DEATH THAT CAUSED AN OUTCRY

Her death caused a wave of indignation in Quebec. The effectiveness of the child protection system was called into question.

Several investigations were ordered into the girl's treatment by the Youth Protection Branch.

The Legault government has called for a public inquiry to "determine the probable causes of this death and make recommendations to prevent similar deaths."

The dates and location of the public inquiry hearing, chaired by Coroner Gehane Kamel, have yet to be determined.

The disturbing story also led Quebec to create the Special Commission on Children's Rights and Youth Protection, headed by Régine Laurent.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 7, 2022.