Woman gets conditional discharge for slapping daughter

The mother of a 10-year-old girl wept in a Brandon courtroom on Monday as she pleaded guilty to slapping her daughter across the face after she ran away during a “very tumultuous” night of violence in the home.

School officials alerted police of the assault when the girl attended a Brandon school on May 8 with a visible mark on her face and spoke about how her mother had hurt her earlier that morning, Crown attorney Melania Cannon said.

The girl, who was nine at the time of the incident, explained that her parents had been arguing throughout the night, so she left home around 6:45 a.m. and went for a bike ride to calm down, Cannon said. When she returned an hour later, her mother was upset and slapped her hard enough to make the girl stumble backwards, Cannon said.

“Her mother then broke a TV and a mirror and was yelling at (her) to find her keys and phone. She said that her mother called her a b— and a c— and said, ‘I’m done with you. I hope you get taken away,’” Cannon said.

The Sun is not identifying the 32-year-old mother to protect the girl, who was temporarily taken into custody of Child and Family Services (CFS) with her two younger siblings at the time of the incident.

Cannon said the girl told her principal it wasn’t uncommon for her mother to consume alcohol and get angry, but she didn’t describe any other incidents where she had been physically beaten.

The girl provided a statement to police and CFS got involved immediately. A few days later, the mother spoke candidly to police by admitting she felt frightened when her daughter went missing and had slapped her, Cannon said.

While she couldn’t remember calling her daughter any names, she acknowledged her mind was foggy from drinking a 26-ounce bottle of whiskey liqueur and a 15-pack of beer.

The woman was charged with one count of assault.

Court heard the police had been notified multiple times that night about violence occurring in the home, beginning with a report at 2 a.m. involving the mother, who alleged she had been assaulted by her husband.

Officers went to the apartment building and claimed both parties were intoxicated. Police then drove the husband to another person’s home.

Around 6 a.m., a neighbour called police to report he awoke to “banging and screaming” coming from the same woman’s apartment, Cannon said. Police went to the suite and found the woman’s husband had returned home and the couple was arguing again.

The man was arrested for breaching the peace, Cannon said. About 35 minutes later, the mother phoned police again to report her daughter had run away.

“This resulted in a patrol in the area for (the girl), but she couldn’t be located, Cannon said, adding that the search was called off when the mother said the girl had come home an hour later.

While the Crown argued the woman should receive a suspended sentence with a period of supervised probation, defence lawyer Bob Harrison recommended a conditional discharge given she has no criminal record and sought counselling within five days of the incident.

She also regained custody of her three children after the agency felt confident they would be safe in her care, he said.

“Unfortunately, when you’re drinking, you don’t always make good decisions,” Harrison said, adding that his client told him her daughter was actually missing for about three hours.

“She was happy to see … that she was safe, but also mad at her for going for that period of time.”

The woman has a family history involving relatives who attended residential schools and was raised by a father who was an alcoholic for most of his life, Harrison said.

He said the mother hasn’t experienced any issues with alcohol since and is making progress as a second-year student in a social service worker program.

The woman wiped tears from her face as she spoke of how embarrassed and disappointed she feels about her actions.

“I take full responsibility,” she said. “Overall, I think I have a better relationship with my daughter now.”

Provincial court Judge Timothy Killeen said the mother should be disappointed in herself and needs to understand she dealt with the problem in the worst possible way.

“I’ve been around these courts for decades. I have never had a mother show up in court and tell me that she’s a better mom when she’s drunk,” he said.

Killeen said he understands the child likely left the home because she felt frightened and didn’t know what else to do.

“This wasn’t a child going out to get in mischief. It was a child avoiding a horrible situation that she had not created at home.”

He said cases like these typically result in a suspended sentence, but given the accused has attended counselling, has regained custody of her children and that her future employment may be affected by a criminal record, he imposed a conditional discharge.

This sentence is for a two-year period with a probation order that includes participating in counselling and not consuming alcohol in the presence of anyone under the age of 18. It results in no criminal conviction if successfully completed.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com