Parents who served time for severe neglect granted access to their 5 children

A father who was sentenced by a Saint John judge to two years of incarceration for failing to provide his malnourished and suffering young children with even the most basic care, says he sees them all the time now and talks to them every day.

The children, who ranged in aged from six months old to eight years old when they were taken into protective custody on May 17, 2016, are living with their paternal grandparents, who must supervise the father's visits, according to the conditions of his release. Alternately, the grandparents can designate another adult to supervise.

"The kids are all very happy," the father wrote in a message to CBC News before declining to comment further.

On his Facebook page, he has posted what appear to be recent photos of himself with the children and extended family members.

A court order prohibits the publication of those photos or any details that would identify the victims. 

The children's mother, who was also sentenced to two years in prison on the same five counts of failure to provide the necessaries of life, was granted supervised access to the children last month when she received her statutory release.

Federal law requires offenders who have served two-thirds of a fixed-length sentence to serve the rest of their time in the community.

While her release was not a decision of the parole board, the board did file a report, noting that the mother had engaged in regular misconduct while in custody.

That included an attempt to smuggle drugs into the institution.

Other negative behaviours included refusals to provide urine samples under reasonable grounds and repeated involvement in verbal altercations with other offenders.

The report went on to say the mother had a "general disregard for any rule that you view as unfair or inapplicable to you."

"File information indicates that you do not seem to realize the degree of harm caused to the victims by your actions, nor do you appear to appreciate the lasting effects this has had on them."

'She hasn't really got it yet'

New Brunswick's child and youth advocate, Norm Bossé, said he doesn't know whether the mother has seen the children since she got out, but he hopes she will try to re-establish a relationship.

However, he doesn't think she has changed.

Bossé was in court for the pre-sentencing report and followed the details of provincial court Judge Marco Cloutier's sentencing decision on April 18, 2018, in which he remarked that the only mitigating factor in the case was the parents' decision to both plead guilty.

Bossé said he got the impression then that the mother was "very immature in many ways."

And from what he's read in the parole report, "she hasn't really got it yet."

Children now 'in pretty good shape'

Even though the family had been followed by social workers since May 2013, the children were showing visible signs of severe neglect when they were taken from their parents and placed into foster care.

The tooth decay was shocking. The six-year-old had to have nine teeth pulled. The eight-year-old lost the four in front.

Prosecutors also told the court that one child had missed 89 days of school out of 146 and another child had missed 91 days.

Bossé said he thinks they're doing better now.

The two oldest were in school when he visited the children's grandparents at their home four months ago, but he did see the youngest three and from what he observed, he thinks they're "in pretty good shape."

Bossé said he's confident the supervision requirements imposed on visitation will protect the children.

He said it would take a court order to change the terms of access.

"These parents can't just start over, without a court process," he said.

Living conditions caught on camera

One of the reasons why the family got so much attention is because their living conditions were caught on camera around the time the criminal charges were laid.

It was the landlord, Truman Hayward, who allowed CBC News to enter the property and record images inside the house, within days of the family's eviction.

That eviction was facilitated by four sheriff's officers who were so shocked and horrified by what they saw that day, they called the Department of Social Development and Saint John police.

The home was jumping with fleas and smeared in human and animal excrement. The officers also observed piles of filthy laundry, stained mattresses and sheets, broken furniture and holes in the walls.

The fact that this evidence of prolonged dysfunction had escaped the attention or appropriate actions by child protection services prompted two investigations, including the one by Bossé, which was called Behind Closed Doors.

An independent consultant, George Savoury, also wrote a lengthy report that called for changes to New Brunswick's child protection services.

Bossé said he does believe the department has made improvements and that social workers have a better understanding now about how to assess whether a child's safety is at stake and when it's time to intervene.