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The defence lawyer for a suspended RCMP officer and his wife suggested Monday their son is a chronic liar with a discipline problem, an Ottawa courthouse heard at the couple's criminal trial for abuse.
The boy's father and stepmother are accused of brutally abusing him over a three-year period, during which they allegedly kept him chained up and denied him food and water. The boy – who cannot be identified – weighed just 50 pounds and was severely dehydrated when he was found in a snowbank in February 2013, after escaping.
The boy's father, who is currently under suspension with the RCMP, and his stepmother are facing charges of forcible confinement, assault and failing to provide the necessaries of life. The father also faces aggravated sexual assault and firearms charges.
The boy, now 13, was on the stand Monday to face cross-examination from his father's lawyer, who sought to poke holes in claims he had been starved by his parents.
During the cross-examination, the defence referred to several photos from a family vacation to Florida, in which the boy appears to be holding food. The boy was asked why he was smiling in the photos, if the trip was as miserable as he claimed.
The boy testified he was denied food and water on the trip, save for a few minutes when he was allowed to eat a cream cheese sandwich.
The defence also questioned the boy about one photo in which he appears to be holding a sports drink.
The boy said his father liked to appear to be a "super-good parent" in front of others. "In public, he wouldn't show that he's a bad guy," the boy told the court.
The defence also asked the boy about a 2005 complaint that his father had abused him in the shower at the age of 3. The boy was asked if his mother had urged him to make the complaint. The boy testified that he remembered the "scene" but not the details of the complaint.
Throughout the boy’s testimony, which was streamed live into court via video, his father fiddled with a pen and cast his eyes downward.
The child also testified that his father had attempted to turn him against his maternal grandparents, whom he said he loved. "He put stuff in my head that they were bad people. He hates my grandparents," the boy said. He testified that he made up accusations against his grandparents as a result, including a claim that he dreamed that his grandmother had thrown a knife at him.
"They never did anything bad," the boy said of his grandparents.
The boy admitted he was difficult to discipline, unable to sit still in school and that he "stole for survival."
The court also heard that Children's Aid, the boy's foster mother and his teachers all said he was tough to discipline. The boy said he stole a video game in 2010 and once changed an “A” to an “A+” in a science assignment “to make my parents prouder."
Last week, the boy testified about a string of abuses he allegedly suffered at the hands of his captors, including being chained up naked in the basement of the family's home, where he was regularly beaten and choked. He said he was also forced to drink a whole bottle of mouthwash on one occasion, and another time, he was instructed to drink his own urine.
The boy denied that he once kicked his stepmother hard enough to send her to hospital in 2013, but the defence said they have records showing otherwise.
The boy had lived with his mother until she died in 2009. He said his father would sometimes enter his bedroom and say, “How do you know I didn't kill your mom?” before saying he was joking.
The boy's father and stepmother are currently out on bail.
The trial resumes Tuesday.
With files from CTV National News correspondent Omar Sachedina
