Grandparents on trial
Boy
presiding, was told that Jeffrey and one of his sisters had been kept locked in a filthy, unheated second- floor bedroom that reeked of feces and urine. A Catholic Children’s Aid Society worker told police the mattress was “ dripping” when squeezed and was “ spattered with dried feces.”
According to a police statement from one of six adults living in the house, Jeffrey “ was kept as a dog.” James Mills also told investigators the boy would “ lick out of the toilet” to quench his thirst because he wasn’t allowed to go downstairs. He would have been better off at an animal shelter, Mills told police.
Mills said he didn’t talk to anyone about Jeffrey’s condition because he didn’t want to be kicked out of the house, the court was told. During yesterday’s proceedings, the dark-haired Kidman sat seemingly emotionless in the prisoner’s box, his elbows on his knees and head bent toward the floor. Bottineau sat just outside the box and appeared to be taking notes.
Jeffrey and his three siblings, who ranged in age from 4 to 8 at the time of his death, are the children of Yvonne Kidman and Richard Baldwin. They were placed in the custody of their grandparents over a number of years “ after allegations of child abuse,” Richards said.
At the outset of yesterday’s proceedings, Watt turned down a request by Catholic Children’s Aid Society lawyer James Maloney to impose a publication ban that he argued was necessary to protect the privacy of children who had lived with the defendants. Watt accepted submissions from Toronto Star lawyer Ryder Gilliland and lawyers representing other newspapers who argued the CCAS had not presented evidence that would justify the ban and that certain information the CCAS wanted to ban had already appeared in print. The trial continues today.