"THE DENIAL OF COMPENSATION BY THE CRIMINAL INJURIES COMPENSATION BOARD IS, UNFORTUNATELY, CONSISTENT WITH A LONG PATTERN OF GOVERNMENT INACTION AND FAILURE. WHILE MS. WAUDBY IS UNABLE TO WORK, AND SUBSISTS BELOW THE POVERTY LEVEL, THE GOVERNMENT HAS ANNOUNCED SIGNIFICANT FUNDING AND RESOURCES FOR A NEW BUILDING FOR THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF CORONER AND THE FORENSIC PATHOLOGY UNIT. AND YET, TWO YEARS AFTER CLOSING SUBMISSIONS WERE MADE TO THE GOUDGE INQUIRY ON BEHALF OF THE AFFECTED FAMILIES, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAS CHANGED FOR THOSE MOST DIRECTLY AFFECTED BY THE SIGNIFICANT SYSTEMIC FAILURES IDENTIFIED BY JUSTICE GOUDGE."
LETTER FROM LAWYER JULIE KIRKPATRICK TO ONTARIO ATTORNEY GENERAL CHRIS BENTLEY;
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BACKGROUND: Brenda Waudby is the mother of Baby Jenna who was born in Peterborough, Ontario and died on January 22, 1997, at the age of 21 months. On January 21, 1997, at approximately 5 p.m., Ms. Waudby left Jenna in the care of a babysitter, J.D., who was 14 years old at the time. That night, Jenna was taken to a local hospital, where she died. Dr. Charles Smith performed the autopsy, concluded that Jenna had died of blunt abdominal trauma, and came up with a time of death that gave Ms. Waudby exclusive access to Baby Jenna at the time the fatal injuries were inflicted. Smith seized a dark, curly, male-type pubic hair from Baby Jenna's vulva-area, concealed it from the police officer who attended the autopsy, failed to submit it for testing, and had it in his possession when testifying at Ms. Waudby's preliminary hearing that he didn't know anything about it. He also failed to conduct a standard rape test which would likely have shown that Baby Jenna had been sexually assaulted. The Peterborough police force sent an undercover officer into Ms. Waudby's Narcotic's Anonymous group in an effort to get incriminating evidence against her. On September 18, 1997, the police charged Ms. Waudby with second-degree murder based on Smith's opinion. In October 1998, following a preliminary hearing, the court committed Ms. Waudby to stand trial on the charge, placing her one step closer to a sentence of life imprisonment for murdering her daughter if convicted. On June 15, 1999, the Crown withdrew the charge after receiving the unanimous opinions of several experts appointed by both the prosecution and the defence which utterly contradicted Smith's opinion and stated that Ms. Waudby could not possibly have been present when Jenna suffered her fatal injuries. (As a result of Smith's terribly flawed opinion, Ms. Waudby, who had lost her daughter through a horrific crime, found herself locked into a brutal battle with the local Children's Aid Society, to recover an older daughter from the authorities and to keep a newly born son. In July, 2001, (two years later), the police began a reinvestigation of Jenna’s death. JD confessed to the police that he had sexually assaulted the two and a half years old baby and killed her. In December 2006, J.D. was permitted to plead guilty to manslaughter and the two counts of sexual assault were dropped. He was sentenced as a youth to 22 months in custody, followed by 11 months of community supervision. Smith has yet to face any criminal charges in relation to his conduct in the Waudby case. Like Dr. Smith's many other victims, Ms. Waudby has yet to receive a single cent of compensation for the utterly hellish ordeal she experienced at the hands of Dr. Charles Smith, the police and the prosecutors.
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The following is the verbatim letter sent by Brenda Waudby's lawyer Julie Kirkpatrick to Attorney General Chris Bentley following Ms. Waudby's denial of compensation by the Ontario Criminal Injuries Compensation Board. I am extremely disturbed that two years after the closing submissions were made to the Goudge Inquiry, not a single one of Dr. Charles Smith's victims has received a cent in compensation. (There's money for new buildings but not for the human beings involved); There has not even been any announcement of the establishment of a compensation process, or a sensitivity on the part of the Ontario Government to the need to make interim compensation to Dr. Smith's victims, many of whom were left destitute because of the ordeal they were put through at the Government's hands. Premier Dalton McGuinty got the ball rolling by ordering the Independent Inquiry which looked into a large number of Smith's cases and conveyed the enormous harm which his victims had suffered to the government. It's high time for Premier McGuinty to follow through and satisfy the public that genuine, generous compensation will be made - and to publicly announce a specific timetable for its completion.
Harold Levy.
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"I represent Brenda Waudby and Justine Traynor in an application to the Ontario Criminal Injuries Compensation Board. I also acted for Ms. Waudby and Ms. Traynor before the Goudge Inquiry into Pediatric Forensic Pathology," the letter from Brenda Waudby's lawyer Julie Kirkpatrick to Attorney General Chris Bentley, begins.
"I am writing to you pursuant to section 25 of the Compensation for Victims of Crime Act to ask that you apply to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board to request that it vary its March 10, 2010 Orders denying compensation to Ms. Waudby and Ms. Traynor in the context of the murder of Jenna Mellor. A copy of both Orders are enclosed," the letter continues.
"Background: Ms. Waudby’s 21-month-old daughter, Jenna Mellor, was murdered in January, 1997. Ms. Waudby was prosecuted criminally for her daughter’s death, which prosecution was primarily based upon the opinion evidence of pathologist Dr. Charles Smith. The murder charge against Ms. Waudby was eventually withdrawn In December 2006 a young person was found guilty of manslaughter in causing Jenna’s death.
Ms. Waudby has been a fierce advocate for herself and her family for over twelve years, beginning with her call for a Public Inquiry in 1999 through her family law lawyer at the time, Laird Meneley. A copy of Mr. Meneley’s letter to the then Premier Michael D. Harris, the then Attorney General James Flaherty, and others, is attached for your reference. The purpose of Ms. Waudby’s continuous public action has been to ensure that no family in the future has to endure what her family has.
Criminal Injuries Compensation Board
Ms. Waudby commenced her application to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board before commencement of the Goudge Inquiry. The application was revived at the conclusion of the Inquiry, at which time Ms. Traynor brought her application as well. Both matters proceeded to a hearing on February 4th, 2010 and decisions were rendered on March 10th, 2010. The Board denied both claims.
With respect, the Board’s decisions are shockingly dismissive of the genuine, extreme and on-going pain and suffering experienced by Ms. Waudby and Ms. Traynor as a result of Jenna Mellor’s murder, the lengthy criminal prosecution of Ms. Waudby which immediately followed, and the unwarranted removal of Justine from the care of her mother for a period of over two years as a young child. The decisions are in direct contravention of the extensive evidence of nervous shock and pain and suffering that was before the Board.
Ms. Waudby and Ms. Traynor therefore request that you exercise your discretion under section 25 of the Compensation for Victims of Crime Act to apply to the Board to request that it vary its Orders in such manner as you see fit.
In addition, Ms. Waudby is aware that an unnamed individual made a claim to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board in connection with Jenna’s murder shortly after her death. Ms. Waudby believes that this claim was successful and compensation was awarded in that case. I would ask that you make inquiries in this regard and confirm.
Government Inaction
The denial of compensation by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board is, unfortunately, consistent with a long pattern of government inaction and failure. While Ms. Waudby is unable to work, and subsists below the poverty level, the government has announced significant funding and resources for a new building for the Office of the Chief Coroner and the Forensic Pathology Unit. And yet, two years after closing submissions were made to the Goudge Inquiry on behalf of the Affected Families, absolutely nothing has changed for those most directly affected by the significant systemic failures identified by Justice Goudge. In the case of Ms. Waudby and Ms. Traynor, the only government action since the Goudge Inquiry has been:
1. Orders from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board that their losses are not compensable;
2. The apparent loss of critical evidence to ongoing proceedings, including the transcripts and videotapes of Ms. Waudby’s statements made to the police in the context of her criminal prosecution for murder. These missing transcripts and videotapes are required for the purpose of advising Ms. Waudby with respect to an intended Application to set aside the plea of guilty under the Child and Family Services Act entered into by Ms. Waudby at the time that the murder charge was withdrawn; and,
3. The recent shocking and disturbing revelation by the Office of the Chief Coroner and the Hospital for Sick Children that partial remains of Jenna Mellor, including her entire rib cage, remains in their possession. This information was not previously disclosed to Ms. Waudby or, to the best of her knowledge, to the Goudge Inquiry.
Thank you for your consideration of this request. I look forward to receiving your response at the earliest opportunity."
Julie Kirkpatrick;
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
