One of three children alleging extreme abuse from her adoptive parents became emotional Wednesday as she described being forced to drink her own vomit.
It’s claimed the girl and her two siblings were abused by their aunt and uncle between 2010 and 2011. The aunt and uncle adopted the children in 2009, three years after their parents were killed in a car crash. A publication ban is in place on the identities of those involved in the case, to protect the identities of the children.
Now 19 years old, the girl testified Wednesday that her aunt told her to wear adult diapers and force fed her chocolate and leftover Halloween candy, leading her to vomit more than two times.
“When I threw up, she told me I had to drink it,” she said.
WATCH: Day two of trial for Calgary couple accused of abusing their adopted children – Tracy Nagai reports
Earlier, two 2011 interviews with the Calgary Police Service were played for the court, in which the girl detailed more of the abuses she and her siblings are alleged to have endured. A victim services sat with the girl as she watched the video evidence from another courtroom.
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“How could she have done this to us?” The girl said in the interview video.
She went on to tell the detective she was poked with a BBQ fork, resulting in marks being left on her abdomen.
She also said her aunt would slap her in the face after not completing a school assignment, and used the flame of a BBQ lighter to inflict further abuse.
“She got out the lighter and burned my tongue,” she said.
The girl said it happened three to four times before the children were removed from the home in January 2011.
At other times, the girl said she would be hit.
“She would punch me in the stomach.”
READ MORE: Aunt and uncle on trial for abuse of young children whose parents died in 2006 car crash
The girl also said she and her siblings would be kept from school after abuse, because their aunt “didn’t want anyone to see the bruises.” She also said that sometimes her aunt would use makeup to cover them.
A school official first alerted authorities to the possible abuse after finding marks on the girl’s younger sister. All three children were later removed from the home.
WATCH: Aunt and uncle on trial for abuse of children whose parents died in 2006 car crash – Tracy Nagai reports
In the second 2011 video interview with police, the girl alleged her aunt chipped her tooth with a stick.
More than three years later on June 16, 2014, she made new and more serious allegations to Calgary police, saying she was forced to drink her own vomit, wear a soiled diaper and had sewing needles put into her tongue.
The defence maintains the girl fabricated the allegations and influenced her brother and sister to go along with her story.
Then the girl was asked by the Crown if she was being truthful; she maintained she was.
In cross examination, the defence noted it was odd that someone would remember more details after years had passed.
One of the lawyers for the aunt and uncle also noted they were more strict guardians than the childrens’ birth parents were.
Also entered into evidence was a 2010 school project about herself in which the girl noted that she liked that she had a family that loved her.
Though the defence also pointed out she wrote, “I especially dislike that I lie” in the report.
The judge still needs to decide what evidence will be considered, as much of the testimony is being given in a voir dire.
Video interviews from the other children are also expected to be played.
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