The Jeffrey Baldwin Case

Five year old starved to death by his grandparents

The grandmother and her common law husband were given custody of the four siblings. They loved two of the children but disliked the other two. It all ended with little Jeffrey Baldwin's death in November 2002.

The grandparents have been charged with murder.

A series of articles from Canadian media

B.C. to act on child-welfare recommendations, Hagen says
By Dirk Meissner
VICTORIA -- The B.C. government will act on all 62 recommendations made by former judge Ted Hughes in his scathing review of the province's child-protection system, Children's Minister Stan Hagen said yesterday.
Mr. Hughes's report, released Friday, said government budget cuts and constant policy and leadership upheavals in the Children and Family Development Ministry stretched British Columbia's child-protection system to the breaking point.
He called on the government to introduce legislation to appoint a new, independent body to oversee the child-welfare system.
Globe and Mail, April 12, 2006

We can't allow another 'Jeffrey'
By Lee Prokaska

There have been too many cases of children who fell through the cracks of the system and we fear there are systemic fault lines that mean we will hear of such abuse again.

Child protection service organizations too often cloak themselves in privacy issues, seemingly more concerned about covering their own butts than improving the system that is supposed to protect children.
The Hamilton Spectator, April 11, 2006

Agency admits Baldwin 'errors'
By Oliver Moore
Leaving Jeffrey Baldwin in the care of grandparents whose extreme neglect eventually killed the little boy was a mistake that would not be made now, the head of the Catholic Children's Aid Society of Toronto said yesterday.
Executive director Mary McConville acknowledged the organization had "made errors," but she rejected calls for more oversight of child-welfare services, saying it is already "a highly regulated sector."
Globe and Mail, April 11, 2006

Jail awaits sadistic duo
Grandparents found guilty of second-degree murder in starvation death
By Sam Pazzano
Jeffrey Baldwin was handed to his grandparents by the courts and the Catholic Children's Aid Society.
But instead of protecting and nurturing their tiny grandson, Elva Bottineau and Norman Kidman locked him up in abominable conditions and left him to die.
The couple were sentenced yesterday to life imprisonment for Jeffrey's murder.
The Toronto Sun, April 8, 2006

Toronto grandparents who starved boy to death guilty of second-degree murder
By Mike Oliveira
TORONTO (CP) - The grandparents of a five-year-old boy who was locked up and left to wither and die in a cold, fetid room were convicted of second-degree murder Friday in what police described as one of the worst cases of child abuse Canada has ever seen.
Fifty-four-year-old Elva Bottineau and Norman Kidman, 53, were supposed to save Jeffrey Baldwin and his siblings from a life of abuse at the hands of their birth parents.
Instead, the pair used the children as a source of income, collecting government support cheques in their names while confining the young ones to what police described as "a horrible room" that was "harsh, dark, cold and damp."
Netscape.ca, April 7, 2006.

Verdict in starved child case expected soon
By Cassandra Szklarski
TORONTO (CP) - The fate of two grandparents accused of abusing and starving a five-year-old boy to death was placed in the hands of a judge Tuesday after a lengthy trial that shocked and angered spectators.
Relatives of victim Jeffrey Baldwin left the courtroom brimming with emotion after Crown lawyer Bev Richards urged the judge to convict Elva Bottineau, 54, and Norman Kidman, 53, of first-degree murder. One of Jeffrey's cousins clutched a ball of tissue as she left court with the boy's paternal grandmother, Susan Dimitriadis.
Cnews, January 17, 2006

Fostermother gives disturbing testimony in Baldwin case
By Shannon Kari
TORONTO -- The Jeffrey Baldwin murder trial heard some of its most disturbing testimony to date, in a proceeding already marked by unrelenting allegations of abuse.
The foster mother of the boy's three siblings testified about comments made to her by the children that suggested Jeffrey was considered sub-human by everyone in his home and that even his young sisters and brother knew he was going to die.
November 2, 2005

Missing CAS documents delay murder trial
By Brenda Craig
The first-degree murder trial of a Toronto couple accused of starving their grandson to death was delayed Tuesday until the Catholic Children’s Aid Society provides the Crown with documents related to the case.
Five-year-old Jeffrey Baldwin died three years ago. At the time, the CAS had entrusted the boy to the care of his grandparents, Norman Kidman and his long-time common-law wife, Elva (Eve) Bottineau.
CBCUnlocked, Sep 20, 2005

Campbell blasted on child welfare
Lindsay Kines and Jeff Rud Sound Off
Three former government watchdogs say they've been waiting nine months for Premier Gordon Campbell to answer their concerns about B.C.'s child-protection system.
The former ombudsman, children's advocate and children's commissioner couriered a letter to Campbell's office last June complaining that his government had undermined public oversight of child-protection issues.
Times Colonist, March 9, 2005

· Children's Aid agency in the hot seat

· 'Couldn't believe it was the same child'

· Grandfather called a cheapskate at trial

· Grandma feared assistance would be cut

· Grandmother shifts blame in boy's death

· Starved boy weighed 10 kilograms at death

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