Edmonton mothers handed 8-year sentences for beating, confining two little girls
Two Edmonton mothers have both been given an eight-year prison sentence for physically abusing two little girls and confining them in a basement.
J.L., 26, and her one-time best friend, A.M., 25, entered guilty pleas last September to two counts of aggravated assault and one count of confinement.
The victims were J.L.'s two biological daughters, who were three and six years old when they were repeatedly beaten and confined in late 2017.
A publication ban on the women's names was ordered to protect the identity of the girls, who are now wards of the province and living in kinship care.
"This was not an assault that was a sudden burst of anger or a one-time offence. The beatings occurred over and over," Court of Queen's Bench Justice Gaylene Kendell said Thursday. "There is no question in my mind they were well aware they were injuring the children."
The judge described the ongoing abuse as "horrific".
"As mothers, their goal and duty was to raise the children in a safe, secure and loving environment," Kendall noted. "Their actions were calculated and deliberate."
According to the agreed statement of facts, J.L. stopped sending her daughters to school or daycare on Nov. 1, 2017, because she was concerned staff would notice the children's injuries and report them.
For six weeks, the sisters were regularly locked up in the townhouse basement, deprived of food, water and a bathroom with only a mattress on the floor.
The mothers admitted they often made the girls stand in the corner with their hands over their heads while they were struck with a belt. Sometimes the belt had a buckle. On occasion, the girls were forced to remove their pants before the beating.
Sometimes, the three-year-old girl was confined inside a large cardboard box with the lid taped shut and a rug placed on top.
"One could only imagine how frightened the girls were to be placed in that situation," Kendall said. "Dark, hot, thirsty, hungry, injured and in pain. Knowing that their mother and auntie were responsible."
By the time the girls were rescued from their barricaded basement prison by a babysitter in December 2017, they were dehydrated, malnourished and injured.
The judge noted the only reason the abuse stopped was because they were caught.
Meanwhile, A.M.'s three young children were well cared for upstairs in the townhouse with plenty of food, toys and nicely decorated bedrooms.
"She knew that what she was doing was wrong," the judge said. "She did not inflict the same punishment on her own children.
"All five children are now suffering because of their mothers' choices"
Credit for time served
The judge considered the backgrounds of the two women in reaching her sentencing decision.
Court heard A.M. had a difficult childhood that included emotional, physical and sexual abuse. She had a drug addiction, but admitted there were times she was not under the influence of drugs when she hurt the children.
A.M. has been locked up for 23-hours a day at the Edmonton Remand Centre since her arrest in December 2017.
She said she saw guards tell other inmates she was incarcerated for abusing children and that she was called names by guards and inmates and told to kill herself.
A.M. claimed one guard threw her meal to the floor and "told her to eat it off the floor like the animal she was," the judge said.
With enhanced credit for time served, A.M. will have another three years, five months left on her eight-year sentence.
A.M.'s lawyer told CBC News she is disappointed with the length of the sentence.
"Regardless, my client is looking forward to putting this matter behind her and working on improving herself and re-establishing relationships with her immediate family," Danielle Boisvert said.
'It was a very heinous crime'
The children's biological mother has what the judge described as an extremely low IQ. But Kendell rejected the idea that her limited intelligence could be used as a mitigating factor in sentencing.
"Low IQ did not impact her ability to know right from wrong," Kendell said, noting that J.L. has expressed remorse for her actions.
J.L. said she wants to become a better parent in the future.
The judge quoted her as saying, "I lost my babies. I was supposed to protect them. The most awful feeling in the world."
J.L. has not spent as much time in segregation, so she will have another four years, three months left to serve on her eight-year sentence.
Her lawyer also said he was disappointed by the length of the sentence.
"It was the highest sentence that the Crown was asking for," Ajay Juneja said. "The sentence was definitely higher than what I expected and far higher than what I had advocated for, so I am surprised."
Juneja said he will consider appealing the sentence after speaking to his client.
At the same time, he acknowledged the toll this case has taken on everyone involved.
"It's a very difficult case," Juneja said. "I don't mean to trivialize what those children went through.
"It was a very heinous crime. It was a very sad case for everybody involved."
