How Could You? Hall of Shame-Canada -Christine Ann Laverdiere case-child death 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 Alberta, Canada, a preliminary inquiry for a Morinville foster mother, Christine Ann Laverdiere,34, charged with second-degree murder in the death of a 21-month-old girl in  March 3, 2010 after a two-day stay at the Stollery Children’s Hospital, began this week. It is set to conclude at the end of this week.

Preliminary inquiry begins in foster care death
[St. Albert Gazette 7/13/11 by Ryan Tumilty]

Previous articles

“The child died two days after she had been taken to an Edmonton hospital on March 1.

Yvonne Fritz, Alberta’s minister of children and youth services, welcomed the news that a charge had been laid.

“The passing of this child has been a very serious tragedy and I’m pleased police have laid charges,” Fritz said.

RCMP made an arrest Friday in connection with the death. CBC News has learned the child had only been living with Laverdiere for a matter of weeks and then was put into temporary respite care for an unknown reason.

Days later, paramedics rushed the little girl to hospital after they were called to the second home and rushed the little girl to hospital.

Ministry spokesman Trevor Coloumbe would not say how long the child had been in Laverdiere’s custody or how long she had been a foster parent. But CBC News has learned she had been a foster parent for less than two years.”

Foster mother charged in child’s death

[CBC News 5/31/12]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update: “A Morinville woman accused of causing the death of a 21-month-old foster child in her care began a manslaughter trial in an Edmonton court on Monday.

Christine Laverdiere, 38, was initially charged with second-degree murder in the female toddler’s March 2010 death, but the charge was reduced to manslaughter following a preliminary hearing in Provincial Court.

In an opening statement, Crown prosecutor Jason Neustader said he will argue that the death was caused by an “unlawful act” committed by the foster mother.

Laverdiere pleaded not guilty to the charge and the seven-week Court of Queen’s Bench trial began with a voir dire, or trial within a trial, to determine the admissibility of statements she made to police before her arrest.

In one of several videotaped statements, Laverdiere breaks down after RCMP Const. Jeff Mulroy tells her that doctors have said the child “sustained a significant brain trauma” and asks if she did anything to cause it.

“No. I would never do anything to a child . . . or hurt her,” said a sobbing Laverdiere. “‘Cause I would never harm a child. I love children.

“I loved her and it hurts me that she had to go and this happened. I can feel her mom’s pain right now.”

Laverdiere also told Mulroy she would take a polygraph test and said it would show that she did not do anything to hurt the child, whom she called a “happy little girl.”

Laverdiere told police she had been making supper in the kitchen while the child was sitting drinking juice out of a sippy cup and she heard a “little cry and a bang” and thought she had fallen back and hit her head on the floor.

She said she saw a little blood on the girl’s mouth and then saw the girl go into a seizure and began “gasping for air” and she began performing CPR on her after calling her husband and then 911.

According to agreed facts, Laverdiere and her husband had been foster parents for two years and the deceased child had been placed with them on Jan. 25, 2010.

At the time, they also had their own daughter, who was three, and a second foster child who was 11 months old.

The victim stopped breathing about 4 p.m. on March 1, 2010, while the husband was seeing a chiropractor.

Paramedics found the child in full cardiac arrest and continued resuscitation efforts until she was brought to St. Albert’s Sturgeon Hospital and placed on life support.

The toddler was then flown by STARS air ambulance to the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton. She was taken off life support two days later after it was determined that she was brain dead.

There is a ban on publication of the girl’s name under provincial legislation because she was in care.

Laverdiere was arrested and charged on May 28, 2010.

Meanwhile, the victim’s biological mother and a number of other relatives were in court to watch the trial.”

Morinville foster child manslaughter case begins in Edmonton [Edmonton Sun 1/14/14 By Tony Blais]

“Several police interviews in which a foster mother charged with manslaughter made incriminating statements should not be admissible as evidence because of an “oppressive” interrogation, her lawyer argued Thursday.

Christine Laverdiere, 38, was arrested in May 2010 in connection with the death of her 21-month-old foster daughter two months before. Court has heard the child died of shaken baby syndrome.

Laverdiere’s lawyer, Kim Hardstaff, argued that an RCMP interrogation that lasted nearly four hours was aggressive and produced an unreliable confession.

“This statement was involuntary,” Hardstaff said. “She capitulated and simply told the officer what he wanted to hear. It is an unreliable confession and we want to avoid admitting unreliable confessions into evidence.”

In the interview, Laverdiere said she was frustrated while cooking supper and making the girl drink her juice. She then admitted she sat the infant down hard on the floor. Through tears, she eventually said she shoved the child.

“I gave her a little push to drink and she feel back and hit her head on the floor. I stepped away to calm down and that’s when she went back again because obviously something was wrong with her brain.”

The girl’s seizure began shortly after.

Hardstaff said that RCMP Sgt. Christopher Van Imschoot mislead Laverdiere by saying the truth was in her best interest and created an “air of oppression” by standing over her each time he directly accused her of a crime. The officer also shook the deceased child’s picture at her several times.

“This was not a gentle approach,” Hardstaff said. She also accused the RCMP of rushing into an interview with Laverdiere instead of waiting for her lawyer to call back.

Crown prosecutor Jason Neustaeter said police had every right to continue speaking with Laverdiere once she made it clear she understood her right to remain silent, as a Legal Aid lawyer told her in a brief call.

“It was very low key, low intensity questioning,” the prosecutor said. “I would describe most of it as gentle questioning.”

On Thursday, court also heard a recording of Laverdiere’s 911 call as the girl was in a seizure on the floor of their Morinville home. On the tape, a panicked Laverdiere tells the emergency operator she didn’t know what happened to the girl.

“I don’t know what she did,” Laverdiere said. “She hit her head.”

The girl’s heart stops during the 911 call and Laverdiere can be heard giving CPR. Two days later, the girl was taken off life support at the Stollery Children’s Hospital.

As the tape played, several members of the girl’s biological family wept in the court gallery.

The girl had been with the Laverdiere family for roughly five weeks at the time of her death. Before that, she was in a group home. Laverdiere’s own young daughter and a second foster child lived in the home. She had been a foster parent for two years at the time of her arrest.

The deceased girl’s identity is banned from publication.”

Interrogation of foster mother on trial for manslaughter ‘oppressive,’ lawyer argues[Edmonton Journal 1/16/14 By Ryan Cormier]

“A Morinville woman on trial for manslaughter told police she was frustrated when she sat her foster daughter down hard on the kitchen floor shortly before the girl had a seizure.

Christine Laverdiere, 38, is on trial for manslaughter in the 21-month-old’s March 2010 death. Her trial has already viewed several videotaped police interviews. In an interview after her May 2010 arrest, Laverdiere told a different version of events than in previous interviews.

She said she was making supper and trying to convince the girl to drink apple juice out of her sippy cup.

“I just kind of picked her up and told her she needed to drink and she didn’t, so I just sat her on the floor and it must have been harder than what, and I mean, I wouldn’t hurt her.”

“You obviously put her down harder than you thought, right?” Sgt. Christopher Van Imschoot asked.

“Well, I had to be to make her die,” a crying Laverdiere said.

The girl’s seizure began shortly after. The child was gasping for air and gurgling when the foster mother called 911. The girl went into cardiac arrest and Laverdiere performed CPR until paramedics arrived. The girl was taken off life support at the Stollery Children’s Hospital two days later.

Van Imschoot told the foster mother the infant girl died of “acceleration-deceleration rotational injuries,” a description that Laverdiere recognized as shaken baby syndrome.

“There’s no doubt in my mind you caused her death,” the officer said. “You knew this day was coming.”

During the interview, Van Imschoot and Laverdiere spoke about how she had contacted Child and Family Services numerous times before when feeling “overwhelmed” by a previous foster child. The extra support she wanted never came, Laverdiere said.

The girl had been with the Laverdiere family for roughly five weeks at the time of her death. Before that, court heard, she was in a group home.

“She was a good kid, a happy-go-lucky kid,” Laverdiere told police. “We were never told any health concerns.”

Court heard the child was apprehended because her biological mother had mental issues. The biological mother was still allowed three visits each week with her daughter in a neutral location.

Before the seizure, Laverdiere said the girl seemed fine except for a lack of energy. That morning, the girl had been taken by Child and Family Services for a visit with her biological mother, who did not show up.

Laverdiere’s own young daughter and a second foster child lived in the home. She had been a foster parent for two years at the time of her arrest.

The deceased girl’s identity is banned from publication.

The trial continues.”

Foster mother on trial for manslaughter admitted using force on child[Edmonton Journal 1/16/14 By Ryan Cormier]

Update 2: “A foster mother told paramedics different versions of the events that led to her 21-month-old foster daughter’s seizure on the floor of her Morinville home, court heard Tuesday.

Christine Laverdiere, 38, is on trial for manslaughter in the child’s March 2010 death.

Richard Bunten, an emergency medical technician, testified that Laverdiere told him and his partner the girl’s seizure began shortly after falling from a chair. Later, outside the ambulance, Laverdiere told Bunten the child had fallen to the floor from a standing position.

That same day, Laverdiere mentioned nothing about a fall when questioned by a Sturgeon Community Hospital emergency doctor. Dr. Chris Westover testified that the foster mother only told him the girl had a runny nose and had been tired that day. Westover and his team were trying to determine why the girl’s pulse and blood pressure were so weak.

“There wasn’t anything from the foster mother that explained to me why this child was so sick,” Westover told court. “At this point, this was a very difficult resuscitation. Was there something else going on?”

Westover said any information about the child’s recent background would have been “valuable” in her care.

The child was transported to the Stollery Children’s Hospital that same day. By the next morning, she had little chance of survival, testified Dr. Alf Conradi, a specialist in pediatric critical care. Swelling in the child’s brain decreased both blood and oxygen flow and doctors did not know why. Conradi testified he was told the child had struck her head on the floor from a seated position.

After other possibilities were considered remote, Conradi had “a high degree of suspicion” that the child suffered from a non-accidental injury such as shaken baby syndrome. The child was taken off life support two days after her seizure.

After the girl died, the mother changed her story several times during police interviews previously shown to court.

Laverdiere was frustrated while making supper and making the girl drink her juice, she told RCMP. At first, Laverdiere claimed she had done nothing to the child. She then admitted she sat the infant down hard on the floor. Through tears, she eventually said she shoved the child.

“I gave her a little push to drink and she feel back and hit her head on the floor,” she said. “I sat her up and it must have been fast. I stepped away to calm down and that’s when she went back again because obviously something was wrong with her brain.”

Laverdiere’s lawyer, Kim Hardstaff, has argued that the RCMP interrogation that lasted nearly four hours should not be admissible because it was unnecessarily aggressive and produced an unreliable confession.

Court heard the child was apprehended because her biological mother had mental-health issues.

Laverdiere’s own young daughter and a second foster child lived in the home. She had been a foster parent for two years at the time of her arrest.

The deceased girl’s identity is banned from publication.

The trial continues.”

Foster mother gave medics different stories about daughter’s injury

[Edmonton Journal 1/21/14 By Ryan Cormier]

Update 3:“A 21-month-old girl in foster care likely died from a lack of oxygen to the brain and not any trauma or abuse, an expert told court Thursday.

The girl’s foster mother, 38-year-old Christine Laverdiere, is on trial for manslaughter in the girl’s March 2010 death in the family’s Morinville home. The girl, whose identity is banned from publication, was taken off life support at the Stollery Children’s Hospital two days after Laverdiere called 911 to report the girl was having a seizure.

On Thursday, an American forensic pathologist testified that the girl died after she went into cardiac arrest that restricted oxygen to her brain. There was no obvious trauma, testified defence expert Janice Ophoven, who studied Stollery health records and the girl’s autopsy. “The most important thing here is there are no bruises to the brain, there is no tearing of the brain. There was no evidence of a serious impact.”

The deceased child’s brain injuries can be explained by the lack of oxygen after the girl’s seizures, she said. Court has already heard the girl underwent a “very difficult resuscitation” at the Sturgeon Community Hospital.

“It only takes four to five minutes for the brain to be fatally injured by a lack of oxygen,” Ophoven said. “Everything points to the cardiac arrest and prolonged resuscitation. Children can suffer cardiac arrest with no causes found. That’s a fact of life.”

The evidence contradicts what chief medical examiner Dr. Anny Sauvageau told court earlier in the trial.

“This is a third party that caused an abusive injury,” Sauvageau said. “Short falls from a standing position or a short height is not a good story. Having a kid in your arms and dropping them, that’s not a good story.”

A fall of at least 1.5 metres would be required to cause the bleeding and swelling of the brain the girl suffered, Sauvageau said.

Dr. Alf Conradi, a specialist in pediatric critical care, testified that he had “a high degree of suspicion” that the child suffered from a non-accidental injury such as shaken baby syndrome.

Court has heard Laverdiere told varying accounts of what happened to the child. An emergency medical technician testified that Laverdiere said the girl had a seizure in their Morinville home after falling from a chair. Later, outside the ambulance, she said the child fell to the floor from a standing position. That same day, she mentioned nothing about a fall when questioned by a Sturgeon Community Hospital emergency doctor.

A lengthy police interview Laverdiere gave to police has been ruled inadmissible after Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Mary Moreau ruled that it was “heavy-handed and created a false sense of urgency.”

The child was apprehended by the government because her biological mother had mental-health issues. Laverdiere’s own young daughter and a second foster child lived in the home. She had been a foster parent for two years at the time of her arrest.

The trial continues.”

Foster girl died from lack of oxygen, not abuse: expert[Edmonton Journal 2/20/14 By Ryan Cormier]

Update 3: “A foster mother from Morinville has been found not guilty of manslaughter in the death of a child in her care.

Christine Laverdiere was charged with second-degree murder in May 2010 after the death of 21-month-old girl.

The charge was later downgraded to manslaughter.

The Crown argued during the trial that Laverdiere had inflicted “lethal traumatic injuries” on the child, possibly by shaking her.

However,a Court of Queen’s Bench judge ruled Wednesday that there was not enough evidence to rule out an accidental death and found her not guilty.

The child cannot be named under Alberta’s Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act.”

Morinville woman found not guilty in foster child’s death[CBC news 3/19/14]