Mother Strikes Back at CAS

February 3, 2007 permalink

A Sarnia mother has been sentenced to house arrest for hitting a caseworker removing her baby. Judge Hornblower said it was the woman's action that put the children's welfare at risk. We suggest that Judge Hornblower visit the zoo and take a cub from a mother bear.

The mother is fortunate to live in Canada. In the US Gene Velasquez and Bryan Russell were killed for defending their family from social workers.

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The Sarnia Observer

Local mother gets house arrest

NEIL BOWEN

Saturday, February 03, 2007 - 09:00

Local News - Hitting a Children's Aid Society worker who was taking custody of her infant has resulted in 45 days of house arrest for a local woman.

Justice Mark Hornblower called it a difficult case Thursday because the single mother's action needed to be "strongly denounced." But jail time would upset a family situation that has settled down since the November, 2005 incident.

The woman, 36, told the court on Jan. 24 that she was shocked by the way she reacted. She was preparing to bring the child home from hospital when she was informed the child was going into foster care. "She snapped," defence lawyer Terry Brandon said during the Jan. 24 appearance.

Workers deserve to know their services are valued and society regards "real incarceration" as the best way to get that message across, Hornblower said.

The perception isn't the same about house arrest, although the courts regard it as incarceration, he added.

Prosecutors were seeking 21 days in jail for the woman to deter others from reacting in an abusive way to Children's Aid Society workers.

Hornblower said even an intermittent jail sentence, in which the time is served on weekends, would be harmful to her children. Their lives would be disrupted by being placed in the temporary custody of the Children's Aid Society.

But it was the woman's action that put the children's welfare at risk, he said.

House arrest means the woman must be home except for medical appointments for herself and her children, or for job interviews. She is also allowed away from home with her children between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

The intention is not to put the children under house arrest because they didn't do anything wrong, Hornblower said.

She was also placed on probation for 12 months.

The Observer is not identifying the woman to protect her children.

Source: Sarnia Observer