Northern Manitoba child welfare agency failed to get teen to sex assault court hearing, Crown says
CBC
A Manitoba Crown attorney says she has "significant concerns" about a northern child welfare agency that failed to properly arrange for a sexual assault victim to appear in court as a witness.
Jennifer Malabar expressed her frustration in a courtroom in The Pas last Wednesday, telling the judge the incident was "the second time in two weeks" prosecutors had trouble getting a child in care to appear as a witness from the same agency.
"The Crown has significant concerns about what is going on," Malabar told provincial court Judge Todd Rambow.
The girl, 17, is in the care of the Cree Nation Child and Family Caring Agency, which delivers services to First Nations that are members of the Swampy Cree Tribal Council.
She was to appear as the only witness in the trial against the man accused of sexually assaulting her in northern Manitoba in 2021, when she was 15, court heard.
He was charged with numerous offences, including sexual assault with a weapon and sexual interference.
His trial was scheduled for Wednesday, but never happened because the girl didn't show up to court.
According to Malabar, arrangements were made in March, when she was subpoenaed to be a witness.
One of the managers at the agency was also informed, letting her know she needed to make arrangements for the 17-year-old to come from her group home in Thompson to The Pas, more than 300 kilometres away.
The Crown was told by the agency the travel arrangements would be made, but when they reached out Tuesday, they learned nothing had been done.
"[The manager] had forgotten about this matter and had done nothing to arrange for travel," Malabar told the court.
CBC News reached out to the agency for comment, but did not receive a response.
The agency is responsible for over 700 children in care, according to its 2020-21 annual report, the latest available. Those children come from across the province, including northern Manitoba.
The pandemic hit the agency hard, according to the report, creating dozens of administrative vacancies and making recruitment a huge challenge.
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