Ombudsman investigating child's death takes province to court

New Brunswick's ombudsman has taken the province's Family and Community Services Department to court to tryto facilitate his investigation into the death of a two-year-old in 2004.

Juli-Anna St. Peter of Canterbury died in a Fredericton hospital in April 2004. Her mother, Anna Marie Mooers, and her former common-law partner, Curtis Brent Hathaway, have been charged with criminal negligence causing death for failing to provide medical assistance.

Ombudsman Bernard Richard said he started looking into the case after allegations surfaced that child welfare officials were alerted to the young girl's plight before she died.

He said his investigation is stalled because he can't get files he needs from department officials.

"They don't object to our jurisdiction to investigate this type of complaint," he said. "But they don't think we should have access to the information that we're looking for. It seems to us to be fairly absurd."

Richard said he gets personal and confidential information from Family and Community Services almost every day, so he can't understand why this particular case is an exception.

The court hearing has been adjourned until a decision is made on the Crown's request for a broadcast ban on evidence.

Family and Community Services officials wouldn't comment on the ombudsman's court action.

The preliminary hearing for Mooers and Hathaway is Oct. 2.