Last year around Christmas time I blogged about Phoenix Sinclair. A 5 year old girl beaten to death by her parents. Her little body had sustained so many injuries, the coroner stated they were the equivalent of injuries sustained during a severe traffic accident.

Numerous broken bones left untreated. Beaten with a metal rod. Shot with a pellet gun for “the hell of it” (said her older brother). Infected wounds left untreated. Her head was shaved and she went days without clothes. She was subject to starvation. Endured horrible verbal abuse. Stomped on until she just stopped crying. I would imagine that would have been until she passed out. Choked into unconsciousness while her mother looked on, laughing at their “game of chicken” (chicken because she would twitch on the floor in her blackout). Made to eat her own vomit. Forced to live in a blanket in the garbage filled basement, which had no heat. It was on that cold floor that she died, naked.

They wrapped her in plastic and left her in a shallow grave when she finally succumbed.

And then they applied to receive child welfare in her name.

Samantha Kemtach and Karl McKay were sentenced to life in prison.

* * *

7 year old Randal Dooley was also killed by his own parents.

“Randal’s 3-foot, 10-inch body was covered with “hundreds” of bruises, cuts and welts. Only his scalp, the palms of his hands and soles of his feet were spared from the vicious beatings.

He had pneumonia. He was as emaciated as those poor children you see on World Vision appeals, weighing just 41 pounds. When he vomited from his beatings at the hands of his stepmother, he was forced to eat it. A missing tooth was found in his stomach. His ribs and elbow had been broken, his liver lacerated, a vertebra fractured. He suffered four separate injuries to his brain, the last of which ultimately killed him Sept. 25 on the second floor of the Dooley’s McCowan Rd. townhouse.

A pathologist would testify that it appeared Randal had been stomped on or punch-kicked, spanked, whipped and roughly shaken. “This may be the worst case of child abuse in Canadian penal history,” he said.

Tony and Marcia Dooley were sentenced to 13 and 18 years respectively.

* * *

Both sets of parents are presently appealing. My tax dollars at work. (Both cases are Canadian).

In Phoenix’s case, her parents are claiming they didn’t force her to live naked in the basement, that the five year old girl chose to live down there. Therefore it wasn’t confinement, they deserve a lesser sentence.

Randal’s parents are claiming that the judge created bias with the jury by referring to the child as “poor pitiful Randal.” That the alliteration inflamed the jury. Therefore the jury was tainted by the judge, therefore they deserve a lesser sentence.

I know what I would do if I ever came across these people. I’ll say this: LESS LAW, MORE ORDER.

* * *

Samantha Kemtach, Karl McKay, Tony and Marcia Dooley were peoples neighbours, friends, relations. They were not isolated, they existed in communities. There would have been some indication to those around them that Phoenix and Randal were being abused. These children were tortured by the very people put on this earth to love and protect them. I can hardly bear to imagine it.

The holiday season is upon us. We will all be visiting friends, neighbours, relatives. Please, if you see signs of abuse, DO NOT IGNORE THEM. If you do not feel you can have a conversation with the potential offenders about their actions, please take the time to call your local child and family services. Your information will not be given to the family. Your actions will not cause children to be removed from a home without investigation and substantiated evidence.

While the four people I have named above are unquestionably responsible for their actions, the death of their children was due in some part to the inaction of others.

Speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.