NEWS
Court told crack mom's children had cocaine in their hair
By Sam Pazzano
Taranjit Grewal, now 23, admitted Thursday she was spending $100 a day - all her welfare cheque, her earnings on fraudulent credit cards and her savings - on her pernicious habit in December 2009.
Two months earlier, Grewal let police into her 2737 Kipling Ave. apartment as a result of a domestic incident with her boyfriend, said Crown attorney Laura Bird.
“When police attended, Ms. Grewal showed them a marijuana grow op in the storage closet.”
Inside, police found eight marijuana plants, two of which were approximately four feet high, Bird told Madam Justice Faye McWatt. The judge-alone trial continues Tuesday.
“Notwithstanding this, the children were left to reside in the apartment with Ms. Grewal.”
CAS were initially involved due to concerns over domestic violence, criminal charges faced by both parents, lack of cribs and parenting skills, court heard.
CAS records indicated that in December 2009 and January 2010, “more concerns were identified and Ms. Grewal’s level of co-operation with the CAS deteriorated. She cancelled a number of scheduled visits,” said Bird.
“The obvious question this case raises is how this could have happened, especially with warning flags of the grow-op, and Grewal’s avoidance tactics,” said Bird in an interview.
And the children remained in the care of a heavy-using crack addict who had isolated herself from her family and the world, court heard.
Grewal pleaded guilty two counts of corrupting the morals of her children, then aged 28 months and 15 months, but she has pleaded not guilty to possessing a 22 calibre handgun found in her apartment on Feb. 23, 2010.
She testified her boyfriend’s friend dropped off the firearm in late November and left it there - without calling or returning to retrieve for three months - while it sat on the top of her fridge unbeknownst to her.
On Feb. 23, 2010, Grewal phoned Telehealth Ontario because she had been vomiting and suffered dizziness that early morning. While on the phone, she became unresponsive and a small child could be heard crying in the background.
Telehealth phoned 9-1-1 and police, firefighters and paramedics responded.
Grewal initially refused to let the police into her home after officers heard the tots inside. Grewal lied that her aunt was inside to conceal the disgusting crack-den conditions.
Bird attacked the veracity of Grewal’s self-serving account, noting she lied during the police statement and to officers on the scene to achieve her goals.
Grewal admitted to those lies but insisted she was now telling the truth, saying “the truth shall set me free.”
Bird suggested Grewal was lying that she didn’t know of the gun’s presence to spare herself a jail sentence.
The two children, now aged four years and three years old, were found with mid-levels of cocaine in their hair strands. They are now in foster care and under different names.
CAS executive director David Rivard said he couldn’t comment on the specifics of a particular case, but his intake officers remove children from dangerous homes.
But most children, up to 90%, remain in their homes under CAS supervision.
“Every effort is made to ensure that the children are safe. We make unannounced visits and scheduled visits,” said Rivard.
CHILDREN LIVED IN CONDITIONS THAT ``ALMOST DEFIED DESCRIPTION'' ACCORDING TO COPS
Two children rescued from their crack-addicted mom’s home lived in such deplorable conditions that one officer said it “almost defied description.”
The bathroom floor was covered with crack pipes, a lighter, a discoloured spoon consistent with drug use, a sexual toy (dildo) and a used condom. All these items were within easy access of the two children;
Both children were dirty and desperately in need of a bath. The 15-month-old had an extremely bad diaper rash - her groin area is almost completely reddened, according to a court exhibit photo. The eldest girl’s diaper was soaking wet and her skin was wrinkled from having been in the damp diaper for far too long;
Both girls tested positively for medium-range levels of cocaine - which means “significant, persistent exposure.” The hair sample tests showed the toddlers either were exposed to cocaine through their environment or inhaled crack cocaine smoke from two months and up to seven months before their tests in March 2009.
While medical tests cannot be certain, levels of cocaine by-product suggested the both girls actually consumed some cocaine, in addition to the environmental exposure or inhalation of crack cocaine smoke.
Grewal tested positively for high cocaine use - meaning heavy frequent consumption - between June and December 2009. Grewal denied using cocaine to medical staff at Etobicoke General Hospital.
The bathroom itself was so filthy that it could not be used to bathe the toddlers;
Piles of garbage were strewn everywhere, food and containers, dirty diapers and cat feces were littered throughout the apartment.
There were neither children’s cribs nor beds and only a playpen - surrounded by mounds of debris - where both of them slept. There was vomit on the couches.
A CAS worker described both girls as “ravishingly” hungry when they were apprehended.
The kitchen was also a filthy mess and its floor was covered with garbage.
The fridge contained only condiments.
Police officers couldn’t find suitable winter coats for the children to be removed from these deplorable conditions in February 2010.
As of March 2010, the 28-month-old could only speak three to five words while her 15-month-old sister had “no language skills,” said Crown attorney Laura Bird in reading an agreed statement of facts.
During supervised visits, CAS workers noted that Grewal “had limited parenting skills and didn’t demonstrate that she knew how to feed the children appropriately or to interact with them.”
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