LONDON, Ont. – The Children’s Aid Society in London, Ont., has established a trust fund to help support a 10-year-old boy who police allege was locked in a bedroom for up to two years.
Police say the boy was found in filthy conditions last week and doctors say he was malnourished from only receiving two meals of fast food a day.
The boy’s aunt and uncle are facing charges in the case and police say he had lived with them.
Officials say the boy has since been placed in foster care and is doing much better, playing video games and making friends with another child in his new foster home.
Children’s Aid Society Executive Director Jane Fitzgerald says many people have called in offering to adopt or be foster parents to the boy, or asking if they can provide financial support for him.
An account called “From London with Love” has been set up by the Children’s Aid Society of London and Middlesex for those who wish to donate and can be found online at the society’s fundraising site.
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Donations can be made here, with reference to “From London with Love” and officials say the funds will be held in trust until the child’s permanent living arrangements are known.
Fitzgerald says the Children’s Aid Society gets funding from the province to cover the costs of caring for children, so any money collected from donations would be for the child’s future.
“What we would hope is that this would permit this young person to eventually go on to seek their dreams in post-secondary education, if that’s what they wish to do,” said Fitzgerald.
She says the boy has a healthy appetite and a “fondness for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.” Officials say the boy’s nine-year-old female cousin is in a separate foster home and is also doing well.
Fitzgerald admits this is likely just the beginning of a lifelong process.
“We are pleased that he is wanting to play with another child in his foster home. The foster parents report that he is very kind and very sweet, and we’re seeing those good signs. But we’re really beginning quite a long road with him, and we’ll really have to see how he does in the long run.”
The boy’s aunt and uncle are charged with failing to provide the necessaries of life and forcible confinement and are scheduled to appear in court on July 10th.
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