A B.C. man who was caught on a nanny camera choking and kicking his girlfriend’s’ two-year-old-old son has been sentenced to six months in jail, according to a recent court decision.
The man, who is referred to by the initials K.J.M. due to a publication ban in place to protect the toddler’s identity, pleaded guilty to one count of assault by choking and one count of assault and was sentenced in provincial court last month.
“The court takes notice that this violence against the toddler, when he was so young, will have an inevitable and long-term impact on the toddler. Violence is a known adverse childhood experience,” Judge Tamera Golinsky wrote in her decision.
“The extent of the impact is unknown, but I have no trouble finding that there will have been an impact.”
K.J.M. was living with the child’s mother at the time of the assaults, acting as a stepparent and caregiver, the decision said. The assaults happened on two occasions, two days apart. Both times, the 28-month-old was in his bedroom wearing only a diaper, according to the judgment.
“Neither assault could be considered minor,” Golinsky wrote.
“On the first occasion, he kicked then choked the toddler, holding him down against the carpet while the child screamed. Two days later, he went into the child’s room again while the child was crying, and he kicked the toddler in the head and left him lying on his back on the bed. There is no evidence or suggestion by K.J.M. that he returned on either occasion to check on the well-being of the child or to try to comfort the child.”
The court heard the child’s mother discovered the assaults after finding a scrape on her son, which prompted her to review the nanny-camera video.
Crown counsel was asking for a jail sentence of one year, while the defence was asking for a sentence of two years less a day to be served in the community.