Publication ban overturned in case of Calgary parents charged in infant’s death

CALGARY – A publication ban against naming two Calgary parents charged in the death of their infant child has been overturned.

Jeromie and Jennifer Clark are charged with criminal negligence and failing to provide necessities of life for their infant son, John, who died in 2013 when he was 14 months old.

In recent weeks, media outlets have been prevented from reporting on the case including the names of the accused and the charges they faced after a publication ban was granted at the request of defence lawyer Pat Fagan.

Global News was among four media outlets who applied to remove the ban. In a written decision handed down Tuesday, Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Jo’Anne Strekaf ruled that Provincial Court Judge Mark Tyndale made an “error of jurisdiction” in granting the ban.

Justice Strekaf found that Fagan did not have standing to represent the interests of the victim in the case and there was no evidence presented explaining how publishing the name of the victim or the accused “might be weighed against the deleterious effects of the ban on the free expression of those affected by the ban.”

A publication ban related to the content of the preliminary inquiry remains in place.

READ MORE: Calgary parents charged in baby’s death granted bail

The Clarks have been ordered to stand trial in the case.

Police previously said the Clarks’ child died one day after being brought to hospital suffering from a staph infection that wasn’t treatable due to complications from malnutrition.
Investigators have said the family has strict dietary restrictions based on their faith and nutritional beliefs.

“We have no indication that he (the infant) had seen a doctor since his birth and the child was not born in hospital,” Staff Sgt. Doug Andrus said last December.

“The family took steps to conceal his condition from family members. And it was only after the realization by a family member that the infant was sick [that] they were advised to take him to hospital.”

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READ MORE: Strict religious diet cause of Calgary infant’s death, parents charged