Criminal cases: Parents accused of failing to seek medical help for children

March 2012: Ezekiel Stephan, 19 months, died in Calgary from bacterial meningitis. His parents, David and Collet Stephan, treated him with hot peppers, garlic, onions and horseradish instead of taking him to a doctor. The couple was found guilty by a jury in April of failing to provide the necessaries of life. David Stephan was sentenced to four months in jail and his wife to three months of house arrest. They have been released pending an appeal by the Crown over the sentence and by the defence which is appealing the conviction.

December 2006: Shatoya Chatelaine, 17 months, died in Saskatoon after getting the skin infection impetigo around her mouth. A doctor who saw the baby during a home visit several days earlier had advised her mother to take the child to an emergency room. After the baby died, it was discovered that she was also covered in bruises and had broken ribs. Charissma McDonald told police she didn’t take the baby to a hospital because she worried social workers would apprehend the girl as well as McDonald’s older children. She pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death and was sentenced to two years in jail.

September 1987: Lorie Atikian, 17 months, died of malnutrition and pneumonia in Toronto. Her parents fed and cared for her based on the advice of an herbalist. Court heard that as the girl withered away, the herbalist told the couple not to take the child to a doctor. A jury convicted Sonia and Khachadour Atikian of failing to provide the necessaries of life, but a new trial was ordered on appeal. The charges were eventually dismissed.

October 1981: Christopher Tutton, 5, died in Ontario after his parents took him off insulin. Several doctors had warned the religious couple not to do that, but they believed he had been miraculously cured of diabetes. A jury in Kitchener convicted Carole and Arthur Tutton of manslaughter, but a second trial was ordered on appeal. That ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court. The Crown did not retry the case.

September 1964: Bonnie Deabay, 5, died in New Brunswick of an infection from a cut lip that her mother treated with home remedies. An autopsy revealed the infection caused the girl’s death. It spread over several weeks, destroying one side of her lip, and extended up the side of her face, down her neck and into her chest. Bonnie had also suffered other injuries. Her mother and father, Glenna and Omar Deabay, were charged with criminal negligence causing death. A jury acquitted them at trial.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Criminal cases: Parents accused of failing to seek medical help for children

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