Jeffrey Baldwin and his sister

age 1       undated

In 1998 Jeffrey Baldwin and a sister were placed by Catholic Children's Aid with his maternal grandparents Elva Bottineau and Norman Kidman, who had been convicted of child abuse in 1970 and 1978 respectively. The grandparents had been given custody of 2 other siblings earlier. Jeffrey died 4 years later, after he and his next oldest sister had been starved, beaten, locked in an unheated room and forced to drink from a toilet. Jeffrey was never toilet trained and denied schooling. The 2 other siblings were trained to treat Jeffrey and his sister as 'pigs'. Jeffrey died at age 5 of septic shock from pneumonia complicated by his starvation. He was covered with wounds and weighed 21 lbs; one pound less than he weighed for his 12 month doctor visit.

There were 6 adults and 6 children under age 10 in the home. Bottineau and Kidman used the children as a source of income.  Bottineau and Kidman were convicted of 2nd degree murder and sentenced to 22 and 20 years, respectively.

See also
Children's Aid Society workers should be reined in, critics say
Kevin Libin: Readers detail rarely-seen ugly side of child-protection agencies

Date: 2002-11-30

Placement type: Adoption

Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Lethal neglect, Lethal deprivation, Economic exploitation

Abuser: Foster father, Foster mother

Location

Toronto, Ontario
Canada

See map: Google Maps