TORONTO -- A Toronto child welfare agency repeatedly attempted to close a couple's file in the months before the pair took in a seven-year-old girl they later killed, a coroner's inquest heard Thursday.
A former caseworker with Native Child and Family Services said there were no longer any child protection concerns about Donna Irving and Warren Johnson in early 2007, shortly after she took it over.
The pair had been involved with the agency since 2004 and seemed to genuinely care for their two young sons, so their file was earmarked for closure even before it was handed to her, Erin Payne testified.
But Irving, who was considering leaving her common-law partner at the time, asked that her file be kept open and was eventually transferred to prevention services, which are voluntary, Payne said.
The agency opened another protection file after realizing that Katelynn Sampson was living with the couple in the late summer of 2007, though the girl had already been in the home for several months, according to documents presented at the inquest.
The file was quickly closed after Irving said Katelynn had gone back to live with her mother, which wasn't true. No one at the agency spoke to Katelynn or her mother, Bernice Sampson.
After that, the inquest heard, Irving cut off ties with Native Child and Family Services and they shut down her file for prevention services.
"Mom and dad 'tolerated' my visit and the investigation, but say they feel annoyed and violated by the situation," Natalie Persad, another caseworker, said in an email to several colleagues dated Aug. 23, 2007.
"They stated that they do not want any services from (Native Child and Family Services) at all," and would only deal with a supervisor if they needed anything, the email read.
"I was not able to verify any current protection concerns, so the 'Irving' file will close at the intake level at this time."
The agency's executive director previously testified that several opportunities to help Katelynn were missed but he denied that those mistakes led to the girl's death on Aug. 3, 2008.
Katelynn was beaten for months until she died of septic shock from her injuries.
Her mother, Bernice Sampson, was addicted to crack and gave her daughter to Irving and Johnson after realizing she could no longer care for the girl.
The couple was granted custody despite a lengthy history with child welfare and several criminal convictions. They later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in her death.
Lawyers at the inquest suggested Thursday that the agency had failed to properly follow up on red flags in the couple's history, including allegations of sexual abuse against Johnson.
When the agency first began dealing with the pair, it recommended a full risk assessment for Johnson and some tests surrounding his drinking, according to documents shown at the inquest. Payne said neither of those had taken place and Johnson largely refused to co-operate with caseworkers.
Irving's claim that she had quit using crack cocaine cold turkey without any treatment for substance abuse also remained unchallenged, save for two drug tests, she said.
Asked whether the agency should perform police record checks before closing a file, Payne warned those records "don't tell the whole story" and would feel "very intrusive."
She said, however, that it would be useful to have a "social history" of the families they deal with to place current issues in context.
The Children's Aid Society of Toronto was also called about Katelynn but referred the case to Native Child and Family Services due to Irving's aboriginal heritage.
