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WARNING: This story contains details of child abuse and death.
Five years after an 11-year-old Indigenous boy was beaten to death by his foster parents, his five biological and foster siblings are suing the B.C. Ministry of Children and Family Development for exposing them to abuse.
The death was the subject of a landmark report in 2024 that called for a “complete overhaul” of B.C.’s child welfare system.
In separate civil lawsuits filed in B.C. Supreme Court this week, the five children’s lawyers allege that if the ministry “had screened the parents reasonably, or at all” it would have found they were unsuitable to care for the six children.
The two foster parents involved were sentenced in 2023 to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated assault and manslaughter in the 11-year-old boy’s death and the aggravated assault of his eight-year-old sister.
The suits describe the horrific situation. All six children are identified only by initials — the boy who was killed is called “L.” None of the parents are named.
The three foster children, then aged seven to 13, were placed with their mother’s cousin and her partner in 2019. According to the lawsuits, the foster father had a criminal record and history of abusing drugs and alcohol, and the foster mother had a history of violence and problems with anger and behavioural dysregulation.
The couple also had three biological children.
Shortly after the ministry placed the three children with the foster parents, the foster mother contacted the ministry and told them she was “overwhelmed and stressed” and “asked for assistance as she could not care for all the children,” according to the claims.
The suits say the ministry did not provide the foster parents with further support or take steps to locate a new placement for the children.
The ministry last visited the foster children in July 2020, and the suits say the parents began to physically assault the foster children, including “slaps, punches, kicking, whipping, choking, gagging, binding, pulling ears, pulling hair, grabbing the throat, stomping and striking with objects.”
The foster parents also emotionally and mentally abused the foster children, including by starving them, binding them to furniture, and forcing them to exercise naked.
All three foster children were abused, but particularly two of them.
The foster parents encouraged the other children to physically and mentally abuse the two foster children.
The two children were struck by a two-by-four piece of wood, locked in a small dark closet for long periods of time, and forced to eat their own feces, vomit and dog food.
The foster parents fatally wounded L on Feb. 26, 2021, after physically assaulting him.
Much of the abuse, which the claims say amounted to torture, were captured on video by the foster parents.
The ministry apprehended two of the parents’ biological children the same day L was killed.
The claims say the ministry failed to properly screen the foster parents, follow up with the children or take the children from the parents sooner. As a result, the lawsuits allege, all five children experienced abuse, severe and permanent psychological and psychiatric injuries, and severe cognitive and emotional disorders.
The children are seeking damages, including for pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life, as well as for medical and rehabilitation expenses, and for past and future wage loss.
They are suing through the Public Guardian and Trustee of B.C., which is a corporation independent of the government that protects the legal and financial interests of children.
The Ministry of Children and Family Development said in an emailed statement that it cannot comment on the case as it is currently before the courts.
“What we can say is that we are working across government to improve the well-being and long-term outcomes of children and youth across B.C.”
“The goal is to align services across ministries and agencies, creating a renewed model of child well-being that focuses on prevention, so we can reach children and families earlier and provide support before a crisis occurs.”
The ministry must file a response to the claims within 21 days.
