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Toddler's family files $2M lawsuit for botched autopsy

A former Calgary family has filed a $2 million lawsuit against a disgraced medical examiner and the province over how the death of their toddler was handled in 2009.

The child's death was deemed a homicide by a pathologist who has since been discredited. A review of Dr. Michael Belenky's autopsy found his findings in the case weren't accurate.

Belenky said the two-year-old boy died of injuries that were "consistent with non-accidental trauma sustained over a period of time."

It took nearly two years for those findings to be overturned and the boy's death ruled an accident. During that time the boy's stepbrother was apprehended by child welfare.

The statement of claim, filed on behalf of their lawyer Doug Perras, says the family was torn apart by the allegations. He says they will likely always live under a cloud of suspicion.

Belenky’s other files are now being reviewed by a special prosecutor.

It also alleges Belenky was not qualified, licensed or formally accredited to practice as a forensic pathologist in Alberta.