NEW CHARGE IN DAYCARE DEATH
Operator of unlicensed daycare accused of manslaughter in death of Eva Ravikovich, 2
Thousands of parents desperate for a daycare spot. Twenty-eight children in neighbouring houses in Vaughan. Two government staffers suspended for failing to respond to complaints. One dead toddler. Almost three years after 2-year-old Eva Ravikovich was found lifeless in an illegally overcrowded and filthy home daycare in Vaughan, one of its operators has been charged with manslaughter.
Olena Panfilova, 49, has already been convicted of operating a daycare without a licence and was charged last October with obstructing justice for allegedly interfering in the investigation and destroying evidence.
“The family is pleased that this is something more. It’s substantial. It’s criminal.” PATRICK BROWN LAWYER FOR VICTIM’S PARENTS
“The family is pleased that this is something more. It’s substantial. It’s criminal,” said lawyer Patrick Brown, who is representing Eva’s parents. “York Police really stayed with this and laid a significant criminal charge that reflects the gravity of the situation.”
It’s the most serious indictment yet in a case that spurred a Star investigation, exposing deficient child-care inspections and prompting a rewrite of provincial daycare laws. Former provincial Ombudsman André Marin called Eva’s death the “canary in the coal mine” and said the ministry’s handling of daycare complaints amounted to “systemic government ineptitude.”
Eva’s parents, Ekaterina Evtropova and Vycheslav Ravikovich, have launched a $3.5-million wrongful death lawsuit, naming both the daycare operators and the province.
“Any death, especially the death of a small child is devastating,” said York Regional Police spokesman Russ Bellman. “It was a slow, methodical and detailed process, but we’re satisfied that we conducted the most detailed, comprehensive investigation possible.”
Bellman wouldn’t discuss what led to the delayed charges, nor the cause of Eva’s death, which still hasn’t been released, only saying that police now believe “the death of the child is a direct result of actions and inactions of the accused.”
Panfilova, her partner, Ruslan Panfilov, and their adult daughter Karyna Rabadanova, are due in court Friday for sentencing after being found guilty of operating an illegal daycare. The crown has asked for three to six months in jail.
In addition, Panfilova and Rabadanova also face charges of obstructing justice.
“They’ve been deceptive from the get go,” said Eva’s family’s lawyer, Brown. “They’re not talking or cooperating with the police. They’ve been charged with destroying evidence — that’s evidence that would help everyone find out what happened.”
“I hope that the trial will reveal what took place on that day,” he said. “When that information is exposed, people are going to find out what happened was repulsive and deserving of punishment.”
On July 8, 2013, police were called to the daycare on Yellowood Circle in Vaughan and found 28 children in two adjacent houses, where there were also more than a dozen dogs. The daycare was shuttered by health authorities, who found dangerous bacteria and filthy conditions in the home.
The education ministry shortly afterward admitted that it failed to investigate four complaints of overcrowding at the daycare in the months before Eva’s death and suspended two staff members.
According to the Day Nurseries Act, in force at the time, unlicensed daycares could only look after five children under 10 who aren’t members of the operator’s family. Such businesses were otherwise unregulated and only monitored if the government received a complaint from the public.
That law has since been replaced with the Child Care and Early Years Act, which increases penalties for overcrowding in unlicensed daycares from $2,000 to a maximum of $250,000 and imposes a hard cap of five kids, including relatives of the operator.
Yet, overcrowded daycares continue to pop up in Ontario, where an estimated 823,000 children can’t get spots in licensed facilities and rely on unlicensed care.
“There were multiple complaints against the daycare. They didn’t warn the parents; they didn’t close it down. They didn’t lay charges,” Brown said.
“They knew about this for more than a year before Eva’s death. After Eva dies, then you see the charges being laid, then you see the daycare closed, then you see the ombudsman’s investigation, then you saw the new daycare law.”
“It shouldn’t be the death of a child that is the catalyst for a review of a broken system — that should have taken place long ago.” With files from Alex Ballingall and Geoffrey Vendeville