How Could You? Hall of Shame- Susan Elizabeth MacDonnell/Canada UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, foster mother Susan Elizabeth MacDonnell, 43, pleaded guilty on Thursday, November 3, 2011 to “aggravated assault and failing to provide the necessities of life by denying food to her two-year-old foster daughter.”

“Susan Elizabeth MacDonnell, 43, was first charged in June 2010 with criminal negligence causing bodily harm, as well as the other two charges after the foster child became more ill while being treated at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax.

Crown attorney Catherine Cogswell told the court Thursday that the little girl nearly died after being hospitalized due to malnutrition.

The Crown will be seeking a five-year jail term when MacDonnell is sentenced on March 1,”2012. She will be free on bail until then.

“The criminal acts took place over a two-month period beginning in February 2010, after the little girl was hospitalized with dehydration and malnutrition.

Cogswell said the child, who has special needs, is doing well, but medical staff at the IWK Health Centre suspected wrongdoing when the child was slow to recover.

“The allegations of the Crown are that the child almost died as a result of being deprived of food for a lengthy period of time,” she said.

At an earlier bail hearing, the Crown said MacDonnell admitted to disconnecting the child’s feeding tube in the hospital, and to diluting a high glucose formula at least six times.

A psychiatric examination found the mother fit to stand trial. Defense lawyer, Jean Morris, has asked for a pre-sentence report to try and reduce the five-year jail term the Crown is seeking.”

“Other foster children in MacDonnell’s household were also removed by the Department of Community Services.”
N.S. foster mom admits to starving child
[CBC 11/3/11]

The Chronicle Herald 11/3/11 by Steve Bruce also reports that conditions of her bail are no contact with children, no possession of weapons or consumption of alcohol or drugs. The girl who is now three and a half years old has been placed with another family. They report that those two charges of “criminal negligence causing bodily harm and unlawfully causing bodily harm” are likely to be dropped in March 2012.

Update: “Three days have been set aside for a sentencing hearing for a foster mother who admitted to abusing a child in her care.

Susan MacDonnell of Dartmouth, N.S. pleaded guilty last month to aggravated assault and failing to provide the necessities of life.

MacDonnell was charged after a toddler in her care was treated at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax for malnourishment in 2010.

MacDonnell has fostered nearly 30 children over 13 years and has no previous record. The judge in the case said last month that he has never felt as challenged as he does with this case.

As a result, he asked for a psychiatric assessment to be completed before making a decision about MacDonnell’s sentence.

The Crown plans to introduce evidence about MacDonnell’s character that shows she has stolen and also lied to the Department of Community Services.

“Ms. MacDonnell had stolen money from a foster parent association group and when confronted about stealing it, she essentially lied to the Department of Community Services and said that she had cancer, her father had cancer, and something else of that nature,” alleges Crown attorney Catherine Cogswell. “And it turned out to be false…that she just used the extra money for some extra household expenses; that she had made that story up.”

The Crown says the theft was never reported to police and no charges were laid. [Why not?]

The sentencing hearing for MacDonnell will he held in September [2012].”

Sentencing set in foster mother child abuse case

[CTV Atlantic 6/19/12]

REFORM Puzzle Pieces

Update 2:  Sentencing finally happening in January 2013.

“Susan Elizabeth MacDonnell disconnected child’s feeding tube in hospital.

A sentencing hearing began Monday morning in Nova Scotia Supreme Court for a Dartmouth woman who starved a foster girl in her care.

Susan Elizabeth MacDonnell, who pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and failing to provide the necessities of life in November 2011, sat beside her husband in court on Monday and quietly sobbed and dabbed her eyes.

The victim, who was 22 months old at the time, was living with MacDonnell in February 2010 when she was hospitalized at the IWK Health Centre for dehydration and malnutrition.

Staff at the IWK Health Centre then suspected further abuse when the toddler was slow to recover while hospitalized.

The Crown said the girl nearly died because she was deprived of food for some time.

“What she did was she created the situation and starved the child almost to death in an attempt to get attention on her as a wonderful mother, a loving mother who was staying loyal to her child throughout a very, very difficult medical time,” said Catherine Cogswell, Crown prosecutor.

At an earlier bail hearing, MacDonnell admitted to disconnecting the child’s feeding tube in the hospital and to diluting a high glucose formula at least six times.

MacDonnell’s sentencing hearing was originally scheduled to take place last May, but was delayed when Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Kevin Coady ordered another psychiatric assessment for the accused.

Remorse questioned

Dr. Grainne Neilson, the forensic psychiatrist who examined MacDonnell, told the court Monday that MacDonnell is a “perpetrator of child abuse” suffering from “factitious disorder by proxy.”

“Her own behaviour and her own understanding has not developed at all beyond the words,” Neilson said.

Neilson testified MacDonnell committed the abuse to meet her own psychological needs. She questioned MacDonnell’s remorse, saying the former foster mother claims not to remember the incident.

“How can she feel guilty about things that she can’t even remember?” Neilson said, calling MacDonnell a public safety risk.

MacDonnell’s lawyer disputed that position, saying her client had made good progress with a psychologist.

Neilson rated MacDonnell as a low to moderate risk to reoffend.

The Crown said that rating needs to be put into perspective:

“A low-moderate risk as compared to other violent offenders in prison, not low-moderate risk as compared to the public generally. The risk would be astronomically high compared to just the general population,” said Cogswell.

The Crown is asking for a five-year-sentence, while the defence has requested two years plus probation.

The girl, now four years old, has been adopted by another family. Other foster children in MacDonnell’s household have since been removed by the provincial Department of Community Services.”

Sentencing begins for foster mom who starved girl

[CBC News 1/7/13]

Update 3: “A Dartmouth foster mother who nearly starved her daughter to death will get to spend the last third of her two-year sentence in the community.

Susan Elizabeth MacDonnell pleaded guilty in November 2011 to aggravated assault and failing to provide the necessities of life to her daughter Rachel. The offences were committed in early 2010, just before Rachel’s second birthday.

MacDonnell admitted that she unhooked the girl’s feeding tube and watered down her formula.

While on statutory release, MacDonnell cannot be in the presence of children under the age of 15 unless she is accompanied by a responsible adult who knows her criminal history. That person must also be approved in advance by MacDonnell’s parole supervisor.

MacDonnell must also get psychological counselling “to ensure proper risk management” of her mental health, her emotions and stability, the Parole Board of Canada wrote in a decision dated Tuesday.

“The board imposes the following special conditions deemed reasonable and necessary to protect the public and facilitate your reintegration as a law-abiding citizen,” the decision said.

“You have committed your current offences while in a position of responsibility and care of a child. Future exposure to children would negatively impact your emotional stability and increase your risk to re-offend by distorting your cognitive process.”

Unlike parole, the law stipulates that most federal offenders must be granted statutory release after serving two-thirds of their sentence unless corrections officials successfully argue against their release.

MacDonnell, now 46, was sentenced in January 2013. She will be on probation for three years after her prison term expires.

A forensic psychiatrist testified in court that MacDonnell harmed the girl to draw attention to herself as a devoted mother. The psychiatrist also identified a borderline personality disorder and several anti-social traits, and said MacDonnell is a pathological liar.

Court also heard that MacDonnell has a history of mental illness.

Rachel was admitted to the IWK Health Centre in Halifax in March 2010 suffering from dehydration and malnutrition. Medical staff became suspicious when she didn’t respond to treatment.

They alerted the Community Services Department, which cut off MacDonnell’s unsupervised access to her daughter that April, shortly after her adoption was finalized.

The girl had been taken away from her biological parents at birth in May 2008. She has since been adopted by another family.

MacDonnell and her husband fostered about 30 children, many of whom had special needs, over a 13-year period. They adopted several of them.”

Convicted foster mom to serve remaining sentence in community[Herald News 4/24/14 By Sherri Borden Colley]