“Other than the shaken baby syndrome there was no evidence they were not cared for. And if you don’t find substance in that allegation, then our view is the children should be returned."
REPORTER TIM AMEY; MY CHILLIWACK NEWS;
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: It is good to see that Paul and Zabeth Bayne are appealing Judge Thomas Crabtree's decision that their three children must remain in the care of the local child welfare authorities - even though he found that the authority's allegation of shaken baby syndrome was unfounded. If the Ministry of Children and Family Development can err so glaringly on such a serious allegation how credible is the Ministry's claim that the children should be held on the basis of undetermined injuries? The Bayne case shows how vulnerable families are when hit by child protection authorities with allegations that they have injured their children by shaking them so severely that their brains have been damaged. This puts a huge onus on the family to demonstrate that there is another cause for the pathological symptoms - a difficult, costly and often futile process.That makes it even harder to understand how the agency can continue to hold the children even though their serious allegation has actually been disproved. The public's understandable confusion is heightened by the fact that Judge Crabtree has not made the decision public. There is clearly a public interest in his doing so.
HAROLD LEVY. PUBLISHER; THE CHARLES SMITH BLOG;
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"Chilliwack/Victoria, B.C. - Paul and Zabeth Bayne are going back to court. Tuesday they are appealing Judge Thomas Crabtree's decision that their three kids stay in the care of the Ministry of Children and Family Development for another six months," the My Chilliwack News story by reporter Tim Amey published on March 22, 2011 under the heading, "Hope Couple Appealing Judge's Decision," begins.
"Three years ago, the Hope couple’s then youngest daughter was diagnosed with shaken baby syndrome. On March 2nd, Justice Crabtree rejected that diagnoses, but said the kids weren't allowed to go home until the Bayne's proved to the Ministry that they were good parents," the story continues.
"Speaking from his office in Victoria, the Bayne's lawyer Doug Christie says that is none sense. “Although he didn’t find that the baby was deliberately harmed in anyway. He still found the children in need of protection and withheld them from their parents for another six months in which they are supposed to satisfy him that they are able to look after this family of three children.” He says “So we’re actually appealing this judgment because as we see it, it puts too high a standard of proof on the parents…to prove the children were properly cared for.
“Other than the shaken baby syndrome there was no evidence they were not cared for. And if you don’t find substance in that allegation, then our view is the children should be returned.”
Christie says he has asked the Ministry what the Baynes need to do to prove that they are good parents. However he says they still haven't heard back yet.
Christie says the appeal is going in Tuesday, but adds it won’t be heard for at least another six months. He says if the children are returned the Ministry can make any determination at that point. He says the problem is they don’t know if the kids will be returned within the next six months.
However the Baynes’ fourth child was born in February and put in Ministry care days after. Christie says even if the first three kids go back to mom and dad, they will have to go back to court to get the baby back as well.
Christie says is so fed up with how the Ministry operates, that he expects a class action suit by parents against the Ministry. He says he is involved in the discussions, but couldn’t say when or if it would happen."
The story can be found at:
http://mychilliwacknews.com/blog/view/18628/1/hope+couple+appealing+judge%27s+decision
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
For a breakdown of some of the cases, issues and controversies this Blog is currently following, please turn to:
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=120008354894645705&postID=8369513443994476774
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;
