Family of toddler killed by parents calls for accountability from Children and Family Services

Warning: this story contains details of child abuse

The family of an 18-month-old boy killed by his parents is calling for change to the government agency that placed him back in their care six weeks before his death.

Michael Sinclair, 32, and Sonya Pasqua, 34, pleaded guilty Monday to manslaughter in the death of their son Gabriel.

The agreed statement of facts delivered in court revealed disturbing details of neglect and abuse for a month leading up to the toddler's death and that a caseworker had not physically seen the boy for nearly a month after the child was returned to the parents' care.

"Anger and hate, none of that is going to bring Gabriel back. What we want to focus all our energies on now is preventing it from happening to other kids," said Gabriel's uncle, Gerry Bakoway.

"Gabriel went through four weeks of torture. Don't let it happen again. Stop it somehow."

The boy was placed in his aunt and uncle's care the day after he was born, after Pasqua tested positive for cocaine, alcohol and marijuana.

He lived with the couple for the first 17 months of his life in Taber before Children and Family Services ordered he be returned to his biological parents in August 2021.

Bakoway said he tried to fight the decision because he worried about Gabriel's safety.

"I knew going back to his parents, it was literally a 50-50 chance he was going to live. We were terrified. It was a very stressful time for us, especially because we couldn't see him or talk to him. We had no idea what he was going through, and to know what he went through, I just can't imagine," he said.

"The last thing I told Gabriel was to be strong and he fought to the end."

On Oct. 5, 2021, emergency crews responded to a 911 call for a boy in medical distress at a home in Radisson Heights and arrived to find the boy dead.

Gabriel died from blunt force head trauma, with a resulting brain injury, and from untreated major burns leading to sepsis.

The couple did not seek medical care for the toddler, who had serious burns to 33 per cent of his body, but instead told police they tried to treat the injuries with honey.

The boy had several other blunt force injuries across his body, was emaciated, dehydrated and weighed below the third percentile for his age, despite having an appropriate weight gain and no health issues at a doctor's appointment six months prior.

The parents told police differing and conflicting stories about what happened to Gabriel, including that he had fallen in the tub and boiling water from a stove falling on him.

Pasqua did tell police that Sinclair had "abused him, too," and "ninja kicking" Gabriel a few times.

Text exchanges between the couple also referred to the boy as a "paycheque."

Court documents revealed that scheduled visits with a caseworker were pushed off by the parents because they claimed he was ill and isolating during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The provincial NDP said the case reflects a lack of resources and it believes the government is failing children and families through a lack of support.

"It was the pandemic on top of a stressed system, it was not the pandemic that caused Gabriel's death," said Diana Batten, the shadow minister for Children and Family Services.

"I think it clearly shows a failure of our Children and Family Services. They are put in place to prevent situations such as this, and this isn't the outcome we wanted, so it's time to look at the system."

Forty-nine children, youth or young adults died in 2021 in care or while receiving services from Children and Family Services, according to government data.

Another 50 people died the year after, followed by 34 in in 2023, and there have been 27 deaths between April and October of this year.

The data includes deaths classified as accidental, homicide, suicide, undetermined and natural.

Indigenous youth are also overrepresented, with the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate reporting in a recent report that nearly 72 per cent of children or youth that died in care or receiving interventions were First Nations, Inuit or Métis between October 2023 and March of 2024.

"There is definitely a need to better support disconnected young people and that starts really young and early for young people. It doesn't need to be major sweeping changes," said Kim Spicer with the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate.

Bakoway believes Children and Family Services failed his nephew and wants to ensure no other children fall through the cracks.

"It was 100 per cent preventable and nobody listened to us," he said.

"It has to start with Child and Family Services. It has to. They were the ones that initiated all of this and told Gabriel where he was going. They have to be accountable and work with us and other families to stop this from happening."

In a statement, the Ministry of Children and Family Services said it cannot comment on a case before the courts.

"There is no greater tragedy than the death of a child. Our hearts go out to Gabriel's loved ones as they grieve this unimaginable loss," it said.

The statement said the province is committed to improving child intervention systems to support the safety and well-being of children and youth.

"That’s why Children and Family Services publicly reports on all cases where a child or youth receiving intervention services dies or is seriously injured and conducts a rigorous and transparent examination of what happened," it said.

"Our findings continue to inform changes that are helping to improve the child intervention system, including enhanced safety planning, the introduction of a system for early identification of infants and youth to let caseworkers and case teams know if a child or youth's case plans need extra attention, a new casework supervision model, as well as enhanced prevention and early intervention initiatives."

There is no minimum penalty for manslaughter without a firearm in Canada and the maximum penalty is a life sentence with parole.

Doug King, a justice studies professor at Mount Royal University, said manslaughter for a first time typically carries a seven-year sentence.

"The judge will also take into consideration aggravating circumstances. It sounds like in this case there were some aggravating circumstances. One would be the vulnerability of the victim, the second one would be the degree of violence used against the victim, so those aggravating circumstances can lead towards a stiffer sentence," he said.

However, the judge will also take into account mitigating circumstances, including the offender's level of remorse, as well as Gladue reports, which present an Indigenous accused's background for a judge to consider.

A sentencing date for Sinclair and Pasqua will take place on Dec. 20.