Mother of dead girls had raised concerns about father before

VICTORIA (CP) — The mother of two young girls who were found dead on Christmas Day in a Victoria-area home had concerns about their father’s parenting abilities, court documents say.

In a decision released in May, a Supreme Court of British Columbia judge said Andrew Berry displayed poor judgment in dealing with his children, including allegations of inappropriate touching that led to an investigation by the province’s child welfare agency.

“The father has displayed poor judgment in dealing with the children,” wrote Justice Victoria Gray.

“That has included saying negative things to the girls about the mother, the touching which led to the (Ministry of Children and Family Development) investigation and his present arrangement of sometimes sleeping together with one or the other of the girls.”

In court, Berry testified he tickled one of the girls but not inappropriately.

The court decision was intended to settle custody of the children and distribution of assets after Berry separated from his common-law partner, Sarah Cotton, in 2013.

Police officers were called to a residence in Oak Bay on Monday evening where the bodies of two children were discovered. A friend and a family member identified the girls as Aubrey Berry, 4, and her sister Chloe Berry, 6.

Police have said an injured man, whose condition has not been disclosed, was found inside the home and taken to hospital.

The Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit said Wednesday the man remains in hospital and was not in police custody.

The court decision says Berry was subject to a restraining order preventing him from contacting Cotton or the children for two months immediately following the couple’s separation in 2013. The order was later adjusted to a peace bond that was amended to allow him time with his children.

Court heard as the marriage dissolved, the father threatened to “blow up the house” during an argument over money, which the judge accepted as the mother’s uncontradicted evidence.

The investigation into allegations of inappropriate touching stemmed from what Cotton heard from her daughters and their nanny in October 2015.