Saskatoon boy testifying in child abuse trial starkly describes life inside locked, empty room with brother

Warning: This story contains details some readers may find disturbing.

SASKATOON - While sitting beside a service dog, an eight-year-old boy at the centre of child abuse allegations testified in his aunt’s trial.

The boy’s 36-year-old aunt and her 28-year-old boyfriend have been charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm, unlawful confinement and assault with a weapon. 

The charges came after the boy was spotted on the roof of a Saskatoon home last year.

The child told court his aunt would lock him and his four-year-old brother in an empty room, with no furniture.

The boy said his brother would defecate and urinate in the vent because he was too scared to call out to their aunt. The child testified he wouldn’t use the vent, and instead he would “hold it.”

Pictures of the empty room were projected on a courtroom screen as the boy explained the images.

A photo showing yellow rope wrapped around the boys’ bedroom doorknob was shown to the child.

“They used rope to lock my room,” the child testified.

Court heard the rope was tied to a banister to confine the children.

Yellow rope wrapped around the boys’ bedroom doorknob and tied to a banister to keep the children confined. (Saskatoon Provincial Court)

The boy said his aunt, her boyfriend, and her 10-year-old daughter would tie the door. He said they would “sometimes” be let out.

“I would always get so excited that I would get out,'” he testified.

One of the pictures showed vomit on the carpet with black socks in the mess.

The eight-year-old testified his brother used his socks to try and clean the vomit.

The vomit is what drove the child to escape from the room on Dec. 7, 2020.

He said he crawled out the window, in an effort to find a towel to clean the mess. He said he was scared of how his aunt would react to the vomit.

Court heard the four-year-old vomited in the room and tried to use his socks to clean it. (Laura Woodward/CTV News)

Neighbours called police reporting a child on the roof of the Lenore Drive home. Officers found the boy’s brother confined in the room.

The kids were taken to Jim Pattison Children’s hospital for injuries related to assault and malnourishment, according to police.

The boy testified about an online learning project during the COVID-19 pandemic, where students were assigned to record a video of their rooms.

The child said his aunt put beds and toys in their room and taped a Ninja Turtles poster on the wall for the video assignment.

“But once we were done the video, they took the beds out,” the eight-year-old said.

The boy said he and his brother slept on the bedroom floor with no blankets.

He said clothes weren’t kept in the room because his aunt thought they would use them as blankets.

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

Photos of the boy and his brother were also shown in court.

He identified bruises and scratches caused by his aunt.

“Sometimes she would punch us … she hits really hard,” he told court, adding that she would use metal broomsticks and hairbrushes.

The eight-year-old said his aunt would lock him in the basement with no lights “as punishment.”

“I used to not like it, but I’m not afraid of the dark anymore,” he testified.

Both the aunt and her boyfriend are released on bail, they sat in the court gallery as the boy testified from a different room.

The trial is set to continue on Thursday.