Parents whose neglect led to death of toddler offer tearful apologies in Calgary court
Crown prosecutor said baby was nothing more than paycheque to his parents
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The parents of a Calgary child who died due to extreme neglect offered tearful apologies Wednesday for causing the boy’s death.
Sonya Pasqua and Michael Sinclair addressed their Calgary Court of King’s Bench sentencing hearing at the conclusion of Crown and defence submissions before Justice Glen Poelman.
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They both pleaded guilty last December to manslaughter in the Oct. 5, 2021, death of 18-month-old Gabriel Sinclair-Pasqua, who died from a combination of blunt-force head trauma and sepsis from untreated burns to 33 per cent of his body.
“I’m sorry,” a shaking Pasqua told court, as she stood crying in the prisoner’s box.
“Nothing said or done will ever take away the pain for the loss of my son,” she said.
“I failed him. I failed my son.”
“I have lost everything,” said Sinclair, when given an opportunity to address the hearing.
“I am so sorry to everybody involved in this tragedy.”
Both Pasqua and Sinclair specifically apologized to the boy’s great uncle, Gerry Bakoway, and his wife, Alice Finlay, who had cared for the boy as his adopted caregivers until he was placed in the custody of the biological parents on Aug. 13, 2021, less than two months before his death.
Crown prosecutor Vicki Faulkner, who suggested a sentence in the eight-year range would be appropriate, suggested the boy was nothing but a “paycheque” to the offenders.
“Before Aug. 13, 2021, Gabriel was a happy, healthy, thriving little boy,” Faulkner told Poelman when the case was in court in May.
That was the day social services took Gabriel from Bakoway and Finlay, and turned him over to the care of Pasqua and Sinclair.
Unknown know how long baby suffered
“Gabriel was placed in the care of his parents and he was dead within two months.”
But defence lawyers Rebecca Snukal, for Sinclair, and James McLeod, for Pasqua, argued for lesser sentences, noting their clients were being sentenced for neglecting Gabriel, as neither admitted causing the blunt-force head trauma.
In sentencing each offender to six-year prison terms, Poelman found both were equally to blame for the child’s death.
The judge said their conduct showed a “cavalier attitude to Gabriel’s suffering.”
Faulkner had earlier indicated the burns to Gabriel’s body occurred at least a week before his death.
“How long he actually suffered is unknown,” she said.
Poelman called the circumstances of the case “extremely grave.”
“Their actions indicate a wanton disregard for the safety of Gabriel.”
Sinclair will receive 44 months credit for the time he spent on remand awaiting sentencing.
Pasqua, who was twice freed on bail while awaiting trial only to breach her release conditions, will have 17 months deducted from her term.
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