Stunned silence in Ottawa courtroom
CBC News  |
| Former Ottawa RCMP officer and his wife on trial for child abuse (Photo by Sarah Wallace) |
The trial continued Tuesday for the 44-year-old former Mountie and his 36-year-old wife who face several charges alleging severe long-term child abuse.
Each is on trial for aggravated assault, forcible confinement and failing to provide the necessaries of life. The woman is also charged with assaulting the child with a weapon, while the man is charged with sexual assault causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon.
Both have pleaded not guilty. Neither accused can be named to protect the victim's identity.
The five videos, made one month before the couple was arrested in February 2013, were seized from the father's cellphone.
They show the small boy, breathing heavily and looking gaunt, with his ribs sticking out. In the videos, a man is heard repeatedly taunting and humiliating the boy, who was tied to the basement wall.
In some of the videos, the boy is shivering. In others, he breaks down crying, reported the CBC's Laurie Fagan.
Onlookers inside the courtroom were seen wiping away tears and the last video left Justice Robert Maranger shielding his face from those in court, who were left in a stunned silence, Fagan said.
Father admitted to tying down boy
The father has previously admitted in court to restraining the boy with a chain and plastic ties.
On Monday, the court saw the woman's police interview via video, which was taken after her arrest. She told police her 11-year-old stepson was "out of control" and that she feared for her safety, but denied any wrongdoing.
In 2013, the RCMP said the father had been on leave since May 2011. The reason for that remains under a court-ordered publication ban.
Police sources previously told CBC News the man was a member of the force's counter-terrorism unit.
The trial continues Wednesday as the court is expected to watch videotaped interviews with the victim.
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