Jeffrey Baldwin
Encyclopedia
Jeffrey Baldwin was a Canadian
child whose death from septic shock
after years of mistreatment by his grandparents, Elva Bottineau and Norman Kidman, led to significant changes in policy by children's aid societies in the granting of custody of children to relatives.
, the son of Yvonne Kidman and Richard Baldwin. On 28 April 1998, he and his older sister were taken by the Catholic Children's Aid Society after allegations of abuse were levelled against their parents. They were given into the custody of their maternal grandparents, Elva Bottineau and Norman Kidman.
In 2000, a worker with the Catholic Children's Aid Society noticed a bruise under Baldwin's eye, but this was dismissed as an accident and no action was taken.
According to later court testimony, Baldwin and his sister were kept in a locked room at night with furnace vents shut, and when released were forced to eat with their hands from a mat on the floor. James Mills, the boyfriend of Baldwin's aunt who also lived in the house, declared that Baldwin's grandmother did not love him or his sister, and that they were purely a "dollars and cents" matter, as his grandparents received social assistance for their care.
On the evening of 30 November 2002, his grandmother called 911 to report that he was not breathing. Upon arrival, emergency workers noticed that his body was "covered in sores, bruises and abrasions". His weight at death was slightly less than his weight at his first birthday, almost five years earlier.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
child whose death from septic shock
Septic shock
Septic shock is a medical emergency caused by decreased tissue perfusion and oxygen delivery as a result of severe infection and sepsis, though the microbe may be systemic or localized to a particular site. It can cause multiple organ dysfunction syndrome and death...
after years of mistreatment by his grandparents, Elva Bottineau and Norman Kidman, led to significant changes in policy by children's aid societies in the granting of custody of children to relatives.
Life
Baldwin was born in Doctor's Hospital in TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, the son of Yvonne Kidman and Richard Baldwin. On 28 April 1998, he and his older sister were taken by the Catholic Children's Aid Society after allegations of abuse were levelled against their parents. They were given into the custody of their maternal grandparents, Elva Bottineau and Norman Kidman.
In 2000, a worker with the Catholic Children's Aid Society noticed a bruise under Baldwin's eye, but this was dismissed as an accident and no action was taken.
According to later court testimony, Baldwin and his sister were kept in a locked room at night with furnace vents shut, and when released were forced to eat with their hands from a mat on the floor. James Mills, the boyfriend of Baldwin's aunt who also lived in the house, declared that Baldwin's grandmother did not love him or his sister, and that they were purely a "dollars and cents" matter, as his grandparents received social assistance for their care.
On the evening of 30 November 2002, his grandmother called 911 to report that he was not breathing. Upon arrival, emergency workers noticed that his body was "covered in sores, bruises and abrasions". His weight at death was slightly less than his weight at his first birthday, almost five years earlier.
Court case
On 19 March 2003, his grandparents were arrested and charged with first-degree murder for their role in his death. The trial heard they had kept Jeffrey locked in a bedroom, where he lived in his own feces, and left him to drink from a toilet. The judge was told that the pair used the children as a source of income, collecting government support cheques while offering little in return. On 7 April 2006 they were convicted of second-degree murder by Justice David Watt in Ontario Superior Court. Sentencing was delivered on 9 June 2006. Bottineau was sentenced to 22 years in prison (Until 2023) and Kidman 20 years (Until 2021), before they respectively become eligible for parole.External links
- Failing Jeffrey Baldwin - the fifth estateThe fifth estatethe fifth estate is a Canadian television newsmagazine, which airs on the English language CBC Television network. The name is a play on the fact that the media are sometimes referred to as the Fourth Estate, and was chosen to highlight the program's determination to go beyond everyday news into...
program about the case