Uncle acquitted, aunt convicted on some charges in alleged abuse of orphans

The two girls and one boy had also been in the crash, but police pulled them from the fiery wreck.

None of those involved can be named due to a publication ban.

Park said the eldest girl, now a young adult, was angry with her aunt and was malicious.

“I find that her anger and dislike has now morphed into a vindictive attitude which is reflected in an exaggeration in her testimony,” he said as he delivered his verdict.

He said the eldest girl wanted her aunt to “have her just deserts through a police investigation and perhaps a subsequent criminal charge.”

He also noted a lack of medical evidence for the injuries the children reported.

Park found the woman guilty of assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm against the two older girls.

Because there were multiple related offences, she will only be sentenced on the more serious ones — two of assault with a weapon — at a hearing scheduled for next week.

The judge found none of the allegations related to the youngest of the trio, the couple’s nephew, warranted a conviction. He said the boy’s evidence was unreliable.

The judge described the assault committed by the aunt as a misguided attempt at corporal punishment, and noted similar disciplinary measures were widespread in the 1950s and 1960s.

The couple’s defence counsel declined to comment after the verdict.

Prosecutor Ken McCaffrey said the siblings stand by everything they said in court.

“They’re happy that there was some acknowledgment by the court of the harm done to them, and that the female accused will have a criminal record and she will be held accountable for that,” he said.

“But obviously the eldest child is quite upset that not everything she said was believed, understandably.”

He said the Crown will be seeking significant time behind bars — at least a year — for the woman.

“You have to remember that this woman has been convicted of essentially four serious criminal offences: assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm against two children.”

McCaffrey also said the Crown will be poring over the decision before deciding whether to appeal.

Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Uncle acquitted, aunt convicted on some charges in alleged abuse of orphans

Our Community