Dad gets jail time, mom house arrest in death of son
Alberta couple did not seek medical help for toddler who had bacterial meningitis
LETHBRIDGE, ALTA.— A couple who failed to get proper medical treatment for their son who died of bacterial meningitis are going to spend time in custody.
A judge in southern Alberta has sentenced David Stephan to four months in jail and his wife, Collet, to three months of strict house arrest — 24 hours a day, seven days a week. She will only be allowed to go out for medical appointments and church.
Both will be on probation for two years after they complete their sentences and will have to complete 240 hours of community service by 2018.
The Stephans, whose family helped start a nutritional supplements company, were found guilty in April of failing to provide the necessaries of life to their son.
They thought he had the croup or flu and treated him instead with hot peppers, garlic, onions and horseradish — even though a family friend who was a nurse said she thought 19-month-old Ezekiel might have meningitis.
Justice Rodney Jerke said that although both parents were “wilfully blind” to the boy’s condition, the father was especially so.
He also said David Stephan, 33, seemed more concerned about being punished than about his inaction when his son was sick.
“Mr. Stephan’s post-conviction actions demonstrate a complete lack of remorse. To this day he refuses to admit his actions had any impact,” Jerke told the court in Lethbridge.
The judge said David Stephan also had greater moral culpability because he called his father instead of 911 when the boy stopped breathing.
Jerke described the Stephans as usually being “caring and attentive parents,” but not at the time Ezekiel was ailing.
“Any reasonable and prudent per- son would have taken action,” he said.
The Stephans were given a hero’s welcome by tearful supporters when they arrived at the courthouse Friday with their three children.
A handful of counterprotesters, most of them medical doctors, set up across the courtyard.
“You cannot impose your personal views on your children in a way that endangers their life,” said Dr. Kirsten Jones, a surgeon from Lethbridge.
The trial heard the Stephans never called for medical assistance until Ezekiel stopped breathing. He was rushed to hospital, but died at Calgary Children’s Hospital.