The family of the Granby girl who died of abuse and neglect in April 2019 will file a civil lawsuit on Monday. She will ask for more than 3 million dollars from the Center de services scolaire Val-des-Cerfs, the CIUSSS de l’Estrie, and certain personal stakeholders for “a series of negligence”.
Posted at 7:08 p.m.
Updated at 8:11 p.m.
“There is a lawsuit that will be filed [lundi] “, confirms the lawyer of the family, Me Valerie Assouline. The information was first reported by TVA Nouvelles on Sunday evening.
The family and youth law lawyer who represents the girl’s mother and grandparents had previously signaled plans to sue in 2019, but “we lacked a lot of information” at the time there, indicates Me Assouline.
“We were really waiting for the coroner’s inquest […] the information arrived in dribs and drabs, there was the investigation of the [Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse]it was long, ”she explains, adding that she was also waiting for the outcome of the criminal trials.
The girl’s father pleaded guilty to forcible confinement and was sentenced to four years in prison. The stepmother was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 13 years after being found guilty of second degree murder and forcible confinement. However, she appealed this verdict in January.
A wave of sadness and indignation crossed all of Quebec when the death of the 7-year-old girl was announced in April 2019. She had been found tied up and in critical condition in a residence in Granby when her case was known. by the Department of Youth Protection (DPJ) — which has been working within the CIUSSS — for years.
According to Me Assouline, “a series of negligence” of the actors targeted by the lawsuit gave the result that we know. It was “a series of inactions and actions” that led to the death of this child.
In the decisions rendered in her regard, we learned that the little one had experienced many traumas throughout her life from her father and his spouse.
In a judgment of May 30, 2018 from the Youth Division, the judge had followed the recommendation of the DPJ by keeping the girl and her brother at home, despite indications of “educational neglect, physical abuse and bad psychological treatments.
In an internal investigation report released in July 2019, the CIUSSS de l’Estrie concluded that no one was to blame for the girl’s death, but rather that it was “the entire system” that had failed. to protect her. No one at the DPJ committed any fault in the handling of his file, the report argued.