The brutal 2007 Oak Bay murder of six-year-old Christian Lee, his mother and grandparents at the hands of his father could have been avoided, according to the province's watchdog for children.
Representative for Children and Youth Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond wants the Solicitor General to head a special initiative focusing on safety of children and youth in domestic violence situations after releasing her report into the murder-suicide yesterday.
The report found that in the six weeks prior to the incident, the family was in contact with two municipal police departments, the RCMP, Ministry of Children and Family Development, medical staff, Crown Counsel, and therapists and lawyers.
Yet, "the tremendous risk of harm to Christian was not fully appreciated" because of a disturbing lack of coordination, Turpel-Lafond found. She says a lead agency needs to set up to ensure a coordinated response to domestic violence in B.C.
Boden warning
Vancouver police have released a public warning after former B.C. Lion Joshua Boden was released from custody.
Boden in currently charged with two counts of sexual assault, one count of resisting arrest and one count of obstruction of a police officer.
VPD say they "believe that Mr. Boden poses a safety risk to the community and are taking the extraordinary steps of issuing a public warning regarding his release."
