Ex-children’s staffer faces threat of legal action for talking about boy’s death

A former employee of B.C.’s representative for children and youth is being threatened with legal action for speaking out about the 2018 death of a six-year-old Indigenous boy in Port Alberni, her lawyer says.

Jason Gratl says his client, Jody Bauche, is legally protected to speak about matters involving Dontay Patrick Lucas’ death, as any oath of confidentiality she took as part of her public service job is “overridden by the public importance and life and death importance for children in custody.”

Bauche was an investigative analyst for Jennifer Charlesworth, B.C.’s representative for children and youth. Bauche conducted a review into the death of Lucas, who died from blunt force trauma to the brain after he was transferred out of foster care back into the home of his mother Rykel Frank, 28, and stepfather Mitchell Frank, 29.

The transfer was overseen by Usma Nuu-chah-nulth Family and Child Services, an Indigenous child welfare agency recognized by the Ministry of Children and Family Development.

In May 2022, the Franks were charged with first-degree murder. The pair pleaded guilty to manslaughter in a courtroom last November and will be sentenced in May.

Bauche received a letter sent on behalf of Charlesworth in early February, claiming she had “engaged in the unauthorized disclosure of confidential information obtained in the course of [her] employment, in direct violation of your oath of confidentiality, your contractual obligations.”

Bauche told the Times Colonist about the case for a story in December 2023. In that story, she urged Charlesworth to conduct a full investigation into Lucas’ death.

Charlesworth had previously decided against it, citing reasons including the potential harm and trauma it could cause the child’s family and community and the amount of time that had passed since the death.

“We had this information and we brought it forward and nothing happened,” Bauche told the Times Colonist at the time. “I wanted the representative to do far more on this file. Why does the office exist if you’re not going to change anything?”