TROIS-RIVIÈRES, QUE. -- The mother of the Granby girl who died after being forcibly confined and beaten in 2019 left the courtroom crying, escorted by relatives, during her former spouse's sentencing hearing Friday at the Trois-Rivières courthouse.
The 32-year-old man pleaded guilty on Dec. 13 to a charge of false imprisonment, thus avoiding a trial on the other three counts, including criminal negligence causing the death of his own daughter.
The seven-year-old girl died in April 2019. She had previously been the subject of a youth protection report.
The grieving mother left the courtroom as the Crown read letters from the victim's relatives addressed to the man sitting impassively in the courtroom dock.
"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 "surrounded by people who loved her to an environment where she was abused," an environment "filled with fear and terror."
When the time came for the victim's mother to read a message to the accused, she asked to leave the room.
In tears, she was escorted out of sight by her relatives before returning a few minutes later for the rest of the hearing.
The name of the girl's father has not been published in order to protect the young victim's identity, but also of the other children who lived in the house where the murder occurred.
13 YEARS FOR THE STEPMOTHER
The girl's stepmother, who was found guilty of the unpremeditated 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 stepmother's trial, it was learned that it was the father who made the decision to confine his child with tape to prevent her from trying to run away from home again.
The man 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 residence. The child's stepmother added tape around 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 emergency services. The girl died the next day at the hospital.
OUTCRY AT CHILD'S DEATH
Her death caused a wave of indignation in Quebec. The effectiveness of the child protection system was called into question.
Several department of youth protection investigations were ordered into the girl's treatment,
In particular, the Francois Legault government 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.
This disturbing story also led Quebec to create the Special Commission on Children's Rights and Youth Protection, headed by former unionist Régine Laurent.
-- This report by the Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 7, 2022.
