CREEPS XIII

Toddler dies because of stupidity of creepy babysitter

A Calgary daycare operator pleaded guilty to criminal negligence in death of 18-month-old Ceira McGrath The toddler died after being left alone in a car seat in a closet for five hours was likely "trying to get out" when she became entangled in the straps, a court was told on April 23, 2018. 

A detailed agreed statement of facts was read aloud at Elmarie Simons's sentencing hearing. In the third week of April, Simons pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death after 18-month-old Ceira McGrath died of asphyxiation in November 2015, 2017.

Because they might have been called as witnesses at trial, Ceira's parents were never told the full story of what happened to their daughter, learning many of the agonizing details for the first time on the 23^rd hearing.  

A bleak, dark picture of the family's life after Ceira was outlined in three victim impact statements as the parents and the child’s grandparents of the toddler used words like despair, sinking, torture and misery to describe how their lives spiralled after the child's death. 

When she died, Ceira was a "frightened, alone, distressed, and helpless little girl," said her father Ryan McGrath in his victim impact statement. "We miss her so much it literally brings me to my knees."

Court heard this was not the first time Simons had  strapped Ceira into a car seat and left her alone.

The car seat Ceira died in was so small, the leg straps could not be fastened around the child. Only the chest buckle was done up when Simons left the girl for five hours to run errands at Walmart and McDonalds.

Simons's brother was home but never checked on the children and did not know where in the home they were being kept, according to the agreed statement of facts. Quite frankly, I find that very hard to believe.

Ceira was likely "trying to get out of the car seat when she slid down the seat and became entangled in the straps. 

Though Simons she lied to police numerous times, nine months after Ceira's death, she admitted she had left the toddler in the car seat before. 

Ceira and her twin brother — who was likely left in a playpen for most of the day — were dropped off at 7:15 a.m. by their father on Nov. 12, 2015.

Even though Simons had been asked not to allow the children a morning nap, she put the toddler in the baby seat around 8 a.m. and left the house to run errands. 

Around 1:30 p.m., Simons called 911 to report Ceira was unresponsive and unconscious. By the time EMS arrived, Ceira was dead.

Ceira's mother Tanya Gladwell described the moment she was called by police, picked up and rushed to hospital with the officer only relaying that there had been a "terrible accident."

"When I arrived at the hospital and stepped out of the police car, there were several police there and what appeared to be a first responder; I knew Ceira was dead," said Gladwell. 

They took the shocked mother to see her dead toddler, removing a white sheet that had covered the girl's body. Ceira was lying there "dead and naked."

When police brought Ceira's twin brother Colby to the hospital, he cried out, "Gone, gone, gone" over and over. 

 “What did he see? What happened to Colby?" All the boy has is "two very messed up grieving parents," said Gladwell.

Both parents described retreating from friends and family, isolating themselves, selling their dream home and struggling to survive their loss.

Their happy memories of the twins as babies were stolen by Simons, because looking at photos of the children brings too much pain to the parents.

Guilt weighs on Ryan and Tanya for trusting Simons with their children. They were on a waiting list, but not yet able to get the twins into an accredited daycare. 

When Simons was asked about her initial lies to police, she said she didn't tell the truth "because it sounded so bad" and she "was trying to cover her butt."

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The former day home worker's trial was supposed to begin a week earlier but defence lawyer Alain Hepner and prosecutor Pam McCluskey instead arranged a plea arrangement which was accepted by provincial court Judge Jim Ogle.

It's not yet clear what prosecutors and defence will propose for a sentence. The maximum sentence in Canada for causing death by negligence is life in prison. However, that isn`t going to be the actual sentence for this woman.

A crushing form of discipline

A 400-pound Ohio man who pinned his 11-year-old step-grandson against the arm of a couch while trying to control the boy with mild autism during a tantrum has pleaded guilty to accidently killing the boy.

Brown County sheriff's Sgt. Chad Noble called Dylan Dylan's death a "tragic accident." He says Martin tried to intervene when the 90-pound boy began acting out last November.

Dylan's grandmother called 911 to report that the boy had passed out after a tantrum. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. The coroner ruled that the boy had died of positional asphyxiation.

Fifty-eight-year-old Donald Martin Jr., of Mount Orab, entered a plea in April 2018 to a reckless homicide charge in Brown County.

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I don’t know what his sentence was.