The B.C. provincial court judge who sentenced a daycare operator to 18 months in jail for the fatal strangulation of an infant in her care says no punishment he could impose could rectify the tragedy of the situation.
Maria McFerran pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death in the 2011 death of Arto Howley.
The 11-month-old died at “Rattle N’ Roll,” the unlicensed daycare in the Coquitlam home belonging to McFerran.
McFerran left the youngster unattended for more than an hour in a car seat in her bedroom. He slid down in the seat and died of strangulation after becoming tangled in one of the straps.
The 49-year-old cried as she was handcuffed and led away when the sentence was handed down in a Coquitlam courtroom Monday.
Crown had requested she spend two to three years behind bars.
Lawyer Jay Fogel told CTV News Howley’s family are disappointed in the year-and-a-half sentence.
“I think it’s fair to say they would have liked her to spend a longer period in jail, but at the end of the day it’s up to the judge to make a legal decision based on the facts and the case law and the precedence he has to consider,” Fogel said.
McFerran's lawyer said the reason she put the baby in the car seat was to settle him down for a nap, and it wasn't meant as punishment or "a shortcut." The defence says McFerran wrongly thought of the seat as a safe and secure place.
During proceedings, Arto’s mother, Victoria Howley, said she had been planning for her son’s first birthday when his life ended.
McFerran was only supposed to have two children at the home that day, but there were seven.
She initially told first responders the boy had choked on something that had been around his neck while sleeping in a playpen, but the daycare operator later told her husband she had lied to authorities.
It was Arto’s first day at the facility.
