Parents of boy responsible for Lee Bonneau’s death testify at inquest

REGINA – It was a highly emotional day Wednesday at the coroner’s inquest into the death of Lee Bonneau.

The parents of the 10-year-old boy responsible for the six-year-old’s death took the witness stand, and despite countless incidents involving their son, a diagnosis from doctors and recommendations for treatment, he never received help.

Bonneau died in August of 2013 after being found with serious head injuries on the Kahkewistahaw First Nation.

The mother of the older boy, referenced in the inquest as ‘LT’ was visibly upset when she testified.

She described her son as playful and said that perhaps family counseling would have helped deal with his troubles.

LT’s father also testified and said there isn’t much support services available in the community, but added that he didn’t really seek any help with his son at the time either.

“I can take care of my kids myself,” he said.

However, court heard differently from Betty Watson who was the child protection manager with the Yorkton Tribal Council (YTC) at the time.

She oversaw cases from 16 different reserves, and wept on the stand speaking about LT’s file.

YTC child protection investigations are supposed to be done in 30 days, but court heard a number of incidents involving LT that were either not investigated at all or took several months to complete.

She said YTC was understaffed, underfunded, and not on par with the province’s child welfare services.

“It gets busy.  I didn’t provide the oversight. That’s what happened.”

Watson added the YTC handles around 337 cases a year and even though 16 employees worked with LT between 2008 and 2013, the child was only spoken to once.

She also told the court there was a gap in the child’s history on their records and that they weren’t aware that LT was assaulted by his father in 2012, or they would have removed him from the home.

Court also heard from Dr. Susan Petryk who accessed and diagnosed LT with full fetal alcohol syndrome in March of 2013.

She said the boy had severe brain impairment, and an IQ around two or three years behind his peers.

She added children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder can be easily irritated, but said the type of violence displayed by LT is uncommon.

“The violence in this case, I’ve never seen or ever heard of,” she added.  “In this particular case I can’t explain it.”

Dr. Petryk recommended the family seek aid from support systems, and that LT be highly supervised.

However, testimony over the first week and a half showed that those supports were either not accessed by the family or sometimes not available in the community before the death of Lee Bonneau.