Ontario daycare operator who left 2-year-old in hot car sentenced to 22 months in jail

An Ontario daycare operator who pleaded guilty in the death of two-year-old Eva Ravikovich after she was left in a parked car on a hot summer day in 2013 has been sentenced to serve 22 months in jail followed by three years of probation.

Olena Panfilova, who owned the daycare in Vaughan, Ont., pleaded guilty last month to criminal negligence causing death nearly four years after the fact, and one year after she was found guilty under Ontario’s Day Nurseries Act of operating an illegal daycare.

Panfilova’s husband and adult daughter were also found guilty of the same charge last year, and the trio was sentenced to 30 days in jail, to be served intermittently on weekends, and given two years to each pay a $15,000 fine with a victim surcharge.

WATCH: Illegal Ontario daycare operator sentenced to 22 months in jail in death of 2-year-old girl. Lama Nicolas reports.

2:29 Illegal Ontario daycare operator sentenced to 22 months in jail in death of 2-year-old girl

Ekaterina Evtropva, Ravikovich’s mother, spoke outside of Newmarket court Friday. She said while the sentence brings some closure, “there is a hole … that will never heal.”

“I do believe that 22 months in jail with her probably being out in 15 months would not do any good. More than that, it will probably never, ever heal me or my husband – my soul. It will never bring back Eva,” Evtropva said.

READ MORE: Ontario daycare operator pleads guilty in hot-car death of 2-year-old Eva Ravikovich

Police say they were called to an unlicensed home daycare in Vaughan on July 8, 2013 over a report that a two-year-old girl had no vital signs.

Investigators said the daycare was taking care of 35 other children and 14 dogs on the premises.

Unlicensed daycare providers can legally care for no more than five children under the age of 10, in addition to their own children.

READ MORE: Owners of unlicensed Vaughan daycare sentenced to 30 days in jail

According to the agreed statement of facts, Panfilova initially told paramedics and police that she put Eva down for a nap in the afternoon and found she was not breathing when she went to check up on her.

A lawsuit has since been launched against the province and daycare operator by Ravikovich’s family for $3.5 million.

-With files from Nick Westoll and The Canadian Press