M. Dufort

The offender was sentenced for failing to provide the necessaries of life and assault with a weapon against her 11-year-old son.

While her husband committed horrific acts of torture and abuse against the child, the offender was convicted for her failure to protect the child and intervene over a six-month period.

The court emphasized denunciation and deterrence, sentencing her to 3 years' imprisonment, less 19 months of pre-trial custody credit, resulting in 17 months left to serve.

The accused parents were charged with multiple offences relating to the severe abuse, starvation, and confinement of their 11-year-old child.

The father claimed he was not criminally responsible due to post-traumatic stress disorder, arguing he was in a dissociative state.

The court rejected this defence, finding the father guilty of aggravated assault, sexual assault causing bodily harm, unlawful confinement, failing to provide the necessaries of life, and firearms offences.

The stepmother was found guilty of failing to provide the necessaries of life and assault with a weapon, but was acquitted of the joint charges of aggravated assault and confinement, as the court found her failure to intervene was not proven to be for the purpose of aiding the father.