A Maple Ridge man, Latif Tata, 37, has been sentenced to four years in jail for molesting children at his wife’s daycare.
He was arrested and charged last December. Tata pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault.
His wife ran the Shining Star Daycare, which was operated out of their home on 122 Avenue in Maple Ridge, and was licensed since 2009.
Tata’s two victims were between the ages of 2 and 4 years old while they were attending the day care. The assaults took place on a number of occasions over a period of time.
The defence has originally asked for three to five years for Tata, and the Crown was asking for ten years.
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The judge noted Tata’s early guilty plea was a mitigating circumstance in his sentencing.
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One of the mothers whose child attended the daycare released this statement to the media:
“I am unable to truly express how horrible this has been for my family. This is any parent’s worst nightmare. Just a few days before Christmas I recieved [sic] a call from police that I will never forget. Doctors apointements [sic] and counselling followed for months, along with an emotional court process. I am shocked and horrified that my child was exposed to a pedofile [sic] on a regular basis for years. My trust in others has been broken. We trusted that our child would be safe in a licensed, in home daycare. We checked and sceened [sic] daycares and put a lot of thought into what daycare was best for our child. We were wrong. Today it is over in the courts but our lives now begin a new phase, finding our new normal. Today we get some closure and will help us to heal and continue on with our lives. No sentence would have equalled [sic] the horror this man has caused to many families.”
“I would like to add that as well that one of the most fustrating [sic] parts of this process was that our child was left in the care of a licensed daycare while we went to work. The daycare owner was paid to watch our children and failed to do so, yet no charges were laid against the owner. We hear stories in the news of a child or dog left in a hot car and the families being charged with child abuse or child neglect. I really hope that we are able to change the laws that will hold daycare owners responsible to watch the children they were paid to watch. I would like to see the laws change in this reguard [sic].
The day care has since been shut down, and Tata’s wife has sold the family home.
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