http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/571364--house-of-horror-abusers-reach-for-bible-to-shorten-sentence
July 30, 2011
If they had Jesus in their lives a little sooner, they would never have kept their small children locked in a pitch dark, squalid basement room. A feces smeared room with dangling electrical wires and urine soaked bunk beds.
Now that they are born again, they see that what they did to the brothers — just five and two — was wrong.
And they were praying to get out of jail early. But it was a judge — not Jesus — who had the final word on Friday and his answer was a swift and sharp ‘no.'
The three adults convicted in the stomach-churning child abuse case were appealing their sentence.
A mother, her fiancé and a grandmother were convicted of two counts each of confinement and failing to provide the necessaries of life.
The grandmother was also convicted of assault, for yanking the toddler clear off his feet in front of a police officer. Police stumbled upon the dungeonlike conditions after the youngest boy clawed a hole in the makeshift bedroom wall, wriggled out and managed to dial 911.
Court heard the boys had been kept in the basement of the Stoney Creek house for at least five months by the time they were rescued in April 2009. Upstairs, other children lived in bright and cheerful bedrooms.
The two years less a day handed down by original trial judge, Justice Bernd Zabel, was too harsh, the abusers argued. They are all first-time offenders and the sentence is longer than what the case law points to.
So far, they have served five months of it. They asked to be released now, and be allowed to serve just four more months in the community.
But Justice Dale Parayeski dismissed the appeal and the three — who sat shoulder to shoulder in the prisoner's dock — were hustled back to jail.
They cannot be named because doing so might identify the children.
The boys' mother and grandmother are at the Vanier Institute for Women. Every day, they are allowed out together to clean the range, according to an affidavit from the mother.
Otherwise, the mother says, she is in protective custody.
“People in jail want to hurt me because of what they have read in the newspapers or seen on TV about this case,” she said.
“Since being in 22-hour lock-up, I have come to really understand what my two little boys must have felt when they were locked up in their basement bedroom. I am horrified at what I did, and truly understand that it was wrong.”
She continues: “With the help of my Bible teachers and the Holy Spirit, I have been born again in Jesus Christ. I now have a personal relationship with Jesus and my new found Christian faith has softened my heart to, again, really understand that what I did was wrong ... I know many people might think this is all stuff made up by me to get a lighter sentence, but I know my faith in Jesus is very real; that there truly is a God; that He died for me; and that He loves me!”
When she gets out of jail she hopes to resume her job as a personal support worker in lodging homes and see her children.
“Hopefully, with the Good Lord's help, I will be able to at least see and touch and kiss my babies under some type of supervision.”
Currently, the children have no contact with their abusers.
Her fiancé is also taking Bible courses while at the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre and filed an affidavit declaring himself a born-again Christian.
“Having been locked up in jail, I've really understood that what I did to (the boys) was very wrong ... Had I had the love of Christ in my heart before this happened, I would have lead a more selfless life. Now that I have become a practicing Christian, I have a new way of thinking. It's beautiful with God in your life.
“I miss my kids very much and eventually (my fiancée) and I plan to get married and have all the children baptized in Christ.”
Court documents include his bible studies homework.
In one exercise, he had to list what is needed “to develop attitudes of love in children.” His answers: “try to understand their feelings”; “listen to what they say”; “tell them they are loved.”
In another, he is asked to tell about an area of injustice he would like to see changed.
His answer: “Mine and my fiancée's incarceration is true injustice. I would like for the judge and crown attorney to re-evaluate the whole case and stop feeling the pressure from the police. There is too much inconsistencies, evidence is poor. I just pray to god the injustice be turned to justice for us. We need it.”
Most telling of all, perhaps, is a question he poses to his Bible instructor: “What is true repentance?”
Susan Clairmont's commentary appears regularly in The Spectator. Sclairmont@thespec.com
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