The parents of a child who was allegedly abused in a family daycare setting complain that the DPJ is not following up on the case, three months after the events. Interview with the parents of the now one-year-old child.

The couple, who want to get things moving, are fed up with being on the spot and have decided to contact Néomédia to denounce the situation. For the past two and a half months, the parents have been seeking answers from the authorities involved in the case, namely the Director of Youth Protection (DPJ) for the Montérégie region and the coordinating office in charge of the family daycare in question. The latter has confirmed to Néomédia that an investigation is underway. 

The whole story of the abuse of their child, 10 months old at the time, began last August. "That's when I became suspicious of the family daycare. We had observed certain problematic behaviors, such as the fact that the educator never let the children out.If she did, she left the house door wide open and didn't supervise them. After discussing this with my bosses at the time - I was also working in a childcare center - I decided to lodge a complaint with the coordinating office.They agreed to go and look into the situation," says the mother.  

On Thursday August 3, while bathing her child, the mother noticed a large bruise on her right buttock. After checking with her husband to make sure it wasn't from the morning, she decided to confront her son's educator. The educator operated a home daycare on Île Perrot. According to information obtained by the parents, she had some fifteen years' experience with children.

The very next day, the parents decided to withdraw the child from the family daycare. Faced with unsatisfactory responses, the mother decided to contact the coordinating office to add a complaint of violence to her file.

"We were told that in order for our case to carry more weight, we had to file a complaint with the DPJ's special mandates department.We were also informed that it was possible, eventually, that a complaint could be filed with the Sûreté du Québec.We agreed to answer everyone's questions.The coordinating office insisted that we follow the pre-established steps for a case of violence, namely filing a complaint, which would lead to a visit to the daycare in question," adds the father.

The director of the coordinating office and a compliance officer visited the premises. "Normally, when there's a complaint of violence, the family daycare closes right away. So in this case, it should have closed on August 4.However, the visit and closure took place about a week and a half later.Since then, we've had radio silence and no news," say the exasperated parents.

A panoply of tests

To confirm that the child had been abused, the parents and toddler had to go to the abuse clinic at Hôpital Sainte-Justine."It was a hard day.They ask you questions and investigate to find the cause of the injuries. They did a skeletal examination on our child to see if he had any hidden injuries dating back a few months, plus blood tests to confirm that it wasn't the cause of the bruises.The same day, we were called back to confirm that the bruise on his buttocks was adult trauma.It's shocking to hear that," says the father.

Not surprisingly, the educator denied hitting the child.No incident report, which could have caused the bruise to the young toddler, was submitted to the DPJ by way of explanation."When we went to pick up our child's belongings after he was removed from daycare, the educator didn't say anything to us and avoided our gaze. I didn't make the connection before, but when I went to carry my son there, he would hold on tightly to me as if he didn't want to go.Later, we learned that another child, who was attending the same environment at the same time as him, said he had been a victim of violence at this family daycare," continues the father.

Recently, when she wanted to follow up on her son's case with the DPJ, the mother was criticized by the person on the other end of the line for "asking too many questions. When I informed her that another child had also been abused, she told me that it wasn't my place to investigate on her behalf, and that I should stop right there.I still have the right to know, it's my child who's the victim," she maintains.

Once the investigation is over, it's not impossible that the parents will take civil action against the educator."We'd like the help of a lawyer specialized in this area to see what recourse is available to us.If there are other parents of children who attended this home daycare before their children were injured, don't hesitate to file a complaint.There were a total of nine children being cared for on the premises by this educator," they conclude.

Contacted by Néomédia, the coordinating office confirmed that an investigation was underway, but gave no further details. As for the Sûreté du Québec, they said they could not comment on the situation, given that a minor was involved. 

As for the DPJ, here is their written response: 

These situations are taken very seriously and are subject to an extremely rigorous process. We fully understand that the delays can be very difficult for the parents, but it is crucial to invest the necessary time in this type of investigation, which can lead to criminal charges, so that no element is overlooked. The Direction de la protection de la jeunesse, the coordinating office, the Ministère de la famille, the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales and the police work closely together, which is what makes our interventions so successful.

Of course, we can't comment on the situation reported, but we do want any parent or caregiver who becomes aware of a situation of physical or sexual abuse not to hesitate to report it, as this is essential for the protection of our little ones.