Calgary stepdad accused of beating 4-year-old sent back to trial
CBC
A Calgary man who was accused of beating his four-year-old stepdaughter has been sent back to trial after the Alberta Court of Appeal overturned his acquittal.
Tyler Laberge, 35, was accused of a brutal, life-threatening assault on the child, causing a severe brain injury.
Laberge was acquitted of aggravated assault in September 2021 by provincial court Judge Terry Semenuk.
In his decision, Semenuk said he believed the accused's story that the child fell in the bathtub despite the testimony of two medical experts.
On Wednesday, a panel of three Alberta Court of Appeal judges overturned Laberge's acquittal, siding with prosecutor Julie Morgan's arguments that Semenuk's improper analysis caused him to "misapply the law."
"We agree with the Crown that the trial judge piecemealed the evidence by assessing individual pieces of evidence and he subjected the experts' evidence to a standard of proof that exceeded proof beyond a reasonable doubt," reads the decision.
A publication ban protects the name of the victim, who was injured in March 2018.
Laberge was arrested and charged about nine months after the girl was injured. At that time, she was confined to a wheelchair, did not have full use of the left side of her body and had difficulty with cognition and speech.
She has recovered somewhat and no longer needs a wheelchair.
When the preschooler was brought to hospital, her most concerning injury to doctors was a life-threatening "massive" brain bleed.
She was also suffering bruises and abrasions to her face, chest, hip, stomach, spine, back, groin and genitals.
One child abuse expert testified it was not possible for all of the girl's injuries to have occurred in the course of a "simple fall" because there were multiple impact areas on the child's body.
The doctor testified there was an "extremely high likelihood of inflicted trauma, likely due to repetitive impacts," and said there was no way the child's injuries could have been caused by falling.
But Semenuk rejected the doctor's evidence and said it was for him — not the doctor — to decide whether the victim's trauma was inflicted or accidental.
This First Person column is the experience of Shannon Flaman, who lives in Red Deer, Alta. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.
City staff are working on long-term plans to prevent toxic and smelly algae blooms at the Hamilton harbour – and short-term plans to mitigate blooms when they happen – but are cautioning residents that it's not the type of problem with a quick fix.
Another blockade of the Ambassador Bridge wouldn't play out like what happened in February 2022 — thanks to police being empowered to act faster and harder, according to a report that's going to Windsor city council next week.
On the first day of 2025, Alberta's default electricity rate is set to be replaced by the new "rate of last resort," in what the province says is a bid to protect consumers from a volatile electricity pricing landscape.
Canadians and Americans sit next to each other in the stands of a small Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., hockey arena to watch the Soo Thunderbirds face off against their cross-border rivals, Michigan's Soo Eagles.
A number of school bus routes in northwestern Ontario have been cancelled Wednesday after a dump of snow overnight in the region. A number of weather advisories also remain in effect in the region, including snow squall warnings in the Greenstone area.
Waterloo regional councillors have voted down a motion that would have asked the Waterloo Regional Police Service to cut $4 million from its proposed 2025 budget.
Residents of a neighbourhood in the heart of downtown Charlottetown hope to have a community garden in place on some vacant land by the time spring arrives.
Planting trees is a popular way to mitigate climate change, but in northern and Arctic regions, it may not be an effective solution.
The RCMP says it's considering deploying Mounties-in-training to help police the Canada-U.S. border as political anxiety over border control mounts in the face of tariff threats from the incoming Trump administration.
Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew were honoured Tuesday night before the Calgary Flames played the Columbus Blue Jackets, on the same ice where Johnny etched his place as a cherished member of the city's hockey community.