Girl takes stand in Saskatoon child abuse trial, questioned about how her mom treated cousins

Saskatoon -

An 11-year-old girl took the stand in a Saskatoon child abuse trial, answering questions about how her mother treated her cousins.

The girl's mother, a 36-year-old woman — the boys' aunt — and her 28-year-old boyfriend are charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm, unlawful confinement and assault with a weapon.

They can not be named under a court-ordered publication ban. Court heard the boys lived with their parents before their aunt became their guardian.

The charges came following a Dec. 7, 2020 incident where the woman's seven-year-old nephew was spotted on the roof of a Lenore Drive home after he crawled out a window.

The window the boy crawled through to escape the locked room. (Saskatoon Provincial Court)

The responding officers subsequently found the boy's four-year-old brother confined to an empty room.

Following the incident, Saskatoon Police Service Sgt. Michelle Kinzel interviewed the two boys and the girl.

On Monday, Kinzel's interview with the girl was played in court.

Kinzel asked her about injuries on the boys’ bodies.

At first, the girl told the officer the marks are accidental, from a fall. The officer then reminded the girl of the difference between a truth and a lie.

The girl then admitted her mom hits her cousins, who she refers to as her brothers.

In the police video, the girl said her mom used a belt, a broom and a shoe to hit the boys. She drew the items on paper and showed the officer.

A pediatrician who previously testified in the trial said the brothers were covered in bruises, scratches and dried blood. He said the injuries didn’t appear to be accidental.

Earlier in the trial, the oldest brother — now eight years old — told court he and his brother slept on the floor of an empty room where he and his brother would often urinate and defecate in an air vent because they were too afraid to ask to use the bathroom.

While on the stand, the girl told court at one time the boys had beds in their rooms, but they were taken away after the youngest defecated in the bed.

Court heard the girl had her own furnished bedroom filled with toys and a game system.

She testified the boy's room smelled “disgusting.”

Photos previously submitted as exhibits in the trial show the boy's door was tied shut with yellow rope.

In his testimony last week, the older boy said sometimes it was the girl who would tie the door shut.

On the stand, testifying virtually, the girl appeared distracted and often answered lawyers’ questions with, “I don’t know.”

At one point, Crown prosecutor Lana Morelli asked the girl if she didn’t really know the answer or if she didn’t want to say it.

She responded, “I don’t know.”

The trial was adjourned until the new year.