Excessive Spanking of Baby (Okotoks) – Charges Withdrawn

Charges:
CC: s.266 – Assault (Baby)

Allegations:
Child and Family Services were contacted by the hospital in relation to suspicious bruising on a 1 year-old boy, after his mother brought him in for an examination.  She indicated that the injuries occurred while he was staying with his father (her ex-husband) over the weekend.  His buttocks were bruised and marked from excessive spanking, and his genitals were swollen also from being spanked excessively.  When the father indicated that he was out of town and left the baby with his girlfriend, my client, she denied any knowledge of how those injuries could have gotten there.  However, the guilt was eating her up, so she turned herself the next day at the RCMP detachment, and confessed to being responsible for hurting the child out of frustration because he wouldn’t stop crying.

Result:
Charges Withdrawn.  Following extensive resolution discussions, as well as the preparation of a Pre-Sentence Report and a Psychological Assessment, I managed to obtain for my client a Conditional Discharge.