Dowling daycare operator told she could be under investigation for child abuse 'forever'

A Greater Sudbury woman will have her day in court Tuesday, a year and a half after her home daycare in Dowling was shut down.

Greater Sudbury Police and local children's aid officials told Laura Leblanc she couldn't be alone with children, including her own, while she was considered a suspect for the alleged shaking of a baby.

But charges have never been laid and officials themselves admit in court documents the investigation might go on "forever."

She is suing both the police and CAS in small claims court (because she says she can't afford a lawyer and wants to represent herself) for $25,000, the maximum amount allowed.

Lawyers for both agencies declined to comment for this story. But the statement of defence filed by the Children's Aid Society of the Districts of Sudbury and Manitoulin denies that its actions affected Leblanc's income.

"I remember calling my social worker within a week, saying 'Do you have any idea when this is going to be done?'" said the 43-year-old, who operated a home daycare for the last 20 years.

"This is so wrong. It's guilty until proven innocent."

How it all started

Leblanc says that Sept. 9, 2016 was the third day a baby boy, who cannot be named, was in her care.

She says when he woke up from a nap, he had trouble focusing on her, she thought something was wrong, contacted his father and eventually they both decided to call 911 and the boy was taken to hospital in an ambulance.

The next morning, a Sudbury police detective and a worker from the children's aid society came to her door. Leblanc says she was told that she couldn't be alone with any children, including her own 14-year-old son, until the investigation was concluded.

"Because [the child] can't talk, he can't tell us what happened, we have to err on the side of caution," a Sudbury police detective is quoted as telling her that day in documents filed with the court.

"CAS is very cautious. If you did something to [the child] and they let you have the other kids, they would be in hot water."

Over the next few weeks, the court records show, Leblanc repeatedly asked when the investigation will be concluded and when she could re-open her business and was told by children's aid workers to take it "one day at a time."

In late September 2016, the children who attended her daycare, as well as her own kids, went for full skeletal examinations. The CAS records describe the results as "unremarkable."

On Sept. 28, 2016, the court documents show a CAS worker met with Leblanc and told her "we knew that someone assaulted" the child, but that the investigation "could last forever." 

During this time, she was also not allowed to be alone with her 14-year-old son.

"I followed that to a tee, because I was deathly afraid they were going to try and take him from me," Leblanc remembered, adding that this restriction was lifted after she filed a lawsuit against the children's aid society in the spring of 2017.

In early October 2016, Leblanc wrote a letter to the children's aid, saying she planned to re-open her daycare and was warned against doing that.

The society also wrote a letter to her clients saying that "at this time, the Society is reminding you that it is your responsibility to ensure the safety of your children by securing appropriate daycare services."

A parent who provided a written statement to Leblanc, said she called the Sudbury children's aid society for clarification on the letter and was told that she would be investigated if she placed her kids back in Leblanc's daycare.

"Investigation will remain open in case in the future she discloses to someone what happened"

On Oct. 11, 2016, the court documents show that police and children's aid workers met to discuss the investigation and noted that Leblanc had apparently violated rules setting limits on how many children were allowed in an unlicensed home daycare.

At that meeting, police and CAS officials also note that: "Laura has aligned herself with individuals who have a history of viewing the CAS negatively."

"All agreed that Laura's responses are a concern however not evidence that she is the perpetrator."

More than a year later, on Nov. 27, 2017, the case notes show that police detectives informed the children's aid that they wouldn't be arresting or charging Leblanc, but that the "investigation will remain open in case in the future she discloses to someone what happened. She will also remain the suspect in the incident."

On Dec. 6, she receives a letter from the Sudbury children's aid saying "the protection file regarding this investigation is now closed," but less than a month later receives another letter saying she has been added to Ontario's child abuse registry.

"When a Society verifies that a child was abused in any way, the individual who committed the abuse or was in the primary caregiving role of the child has his or her name recorded on the registry as well as relevant details of the incident," the letter reads.

"That blows my mind," Leblanc told CBC in an interview. "With no evidence of anything, I don't know how they can possibly do that. It's devastating. I will fight to the end until I get my name off this list."