Filled with remorse, a father admits to having caused the death of his baby 12 years later

A 50-year-old man is sentenced to two years in prison for falling asleep, intoxicated, on his 11-week-old baby, causing her death. The father waited 12 years before turning himself in to the police, out of remorse.

The facts date back to April 27, 2012, when the accused, whose identity is protected by a non-publication order to preserve the anonymity of the baby, found himself alone at home with his child, in Sherbrooke, his partner busy at work.

In the evening, he consumed alcohol and took sleeping pills, then fell asleep with his baby on a sofa. When he wakes up, he finds that the latter is under him and that he is no longer breathing. He immediately tried to resuscitate him, in vain.

Panicked, the father then carries the baby in his cradle while waiting for his partner to return. When she arrived about four hours later, the mother was horrified to see his lifeless body and called the emergency services.

Authorities link the baby’s death to sudden infant death syndrome.

The truth remains well guarded until April 2024, when the father reveals his crime to Gatineau police officers.

Defense lawyer Olivier Morin told Judge Benoît Gagnon on Friday how difficult these twelve years of secrecy were for his client. The latter, a destitute man, already struggling with dependency problems at the time of the events, found himself homeless.

He consumes so much, he is no longer able to live with it. He took drugs, he froze himself to forget it. He wants it to endhe said.

Standing and handcuffed in the dock, the father, who has been detained since October, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of failing to provide the things necessary for his child’s existence.

Before receiving his sentence, he gave a testimony punctuated by moments of silence to hold back tears. I have sincere regrets about my life, about what I could have been. Today I have changed. I’m trying to change. I realized the harm I was doing by being intoxicated.

I would like my little one to forgive me, but he is not here to forgive me. I feel terribly guilty.

“Double trauma”

The mother, who attended the hearing by videoconference, wrote a letter read by the criminal and penal prosecutor, Stéphanie Landry. Sad and angry, she confided that she sought solitude and drank to forget.

She admitted to having difficulty sleeping, experiencing nights filled with nightmares and fearing the loss of her other child. She confided that she experienced a first trauma when her baby died, and a second when she learned a few months ago, from the mouths of the police, what had been hidden from her for 12 years.

We must understand that losing a baby in these circumstances or whatever the circumstances, it traces the course of a life and this is what she wanted to express to the judgeindicated Stéphanie Landry in an interview after the hearing.

We always hear about not co-sleeping, not sleeping with a baby who is so vulnerable while we are intoxicated. The mother had even mentioned [à l’accusé] to be careful before leaving for workshe continued.

The mother can, however, find relief in the fact that her ex-spouse has taken responsibility, argued the one representing the public prosecutor.

Judge Benoît Gagnon mentioned on multiple occasions how this case was of nameless sadness.

You did not intend to harm your child, but you did by making choices that caused deathhe summarized.

This is a special case that we don’t see every day in court.added the magistrate.

A rare case

According to Stéphanie Landry, the case is unprecedented in Quebec.

There is not a single file in the case law research that I did, and that the defense did, that was remotely, or even remotely, similar to the events that took place in April 2012. Deciding how much worth a crime, it is always one of the most difficult exercises.

Leaving the courtroom, Olivier Morin also underlined the complexity of determining a sentence in these circumstances. He was visibly touched by the affair. It’s despair. It is human misery. I’ve been doing this for a while, I can’t get used to it. Then, he’s a father and I’m a family man.

Both sides made a joint suggestion of two years in a federal detention center, which the judge accepted.

They agreed to a conditional stay on the charge of criminal negligence causing death.