There will be more legal action in a horrible case of child abuse that resulted death and injury and convictions for two Regina care-givers.
Now that the criminal trial is almost complete, a lawsuit filed against the Ministry of Social Services will start to move ahead.
Well-known Regina lawyer Tony Merchant is representing a grieving mother whose two little girls, aged four and two, ended up in the care of Kevin and Tammy Goforth in the fall of 2011.
Nine months later, both girls were rushed to hospital severely malnourished, dehydrated, and covered in bruises and open sores. The four-year-old died, while the two-year-old recovered.
Merchant says the recent trial of Tammy and Kevin Goforth highlighted some of the major failings of the social services department.
“What happened in the criminal action helped our case,” he said. “And it also helped by showing the inadequacies of what social services was doing.”
During the trial it was learned the Goforths were named guardians of the girls within a few of weeks of them arriving at the home, and there was no follow up by the department. The rules have since changed, but Merchant says the standards of care were severely lacking in 2012.
“They didn’t do what a grandmother or a kokum would have done, they didn’t do what parents would have done,” he said. “You don’t send your child somewhere and you never check and you never make any contact. That is the basis of our lawsuit against the department.”
On Saturday, Tammy was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of the four-year-old while her husband Kevin was found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Both were found guilty of causing harm to the two-year-old. Sentencing arguments will be heard on Friday.
As for the lawsuit against the Ministry of Social Services, Merchant says it likely won’t be heard until late this year or June of 2017.