Northern Ont. parents charged as children endured years of horrific abuse

The Nishnawbe Aski Police Service has laid several charges connected to an ongoing investigation of historic child abuse involving the parents of two children, now aged nine and 11. (File)

The Nishnawbe Aski Police Service has laid several charges connected to an ongoing investigation of historic child abuse involving the parents of two children, now aged nine and 11.

In a news release, police said the abuse began when the children were infants living in Timmins and continued until an investigation began in May of this year.

The children are now in care.

Abuse began in 2015

“The abuse allegations relate to a series of incidents that occurred between November 2024 and March 2025 in Brunswick House First Nation, and between May 2015 and October 2024 in Timmins, Ont.,” police said in a news release Friday.

The two victims have been in the care of Child and Family Services during the six-month-long NAPS criminal investigation, police said.

The two suspects, a 33-year-old man and a 36-year-old woman, are the parents of both victims.

“Through their investigation, police learned the children’s parents subjected them to physical abuse, threats and forcibly confined them in their rooms for days at a time,” police said.

“The children sustained numerous injuries as a result of these incidents.”

The parents were arrested Dec. 17 in Brunswick House First Nation.

Assault, abandonment, confinement

The man is charged with two counts each of forcible confinement, failing to provide the necessities of life, assault causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon, in addition to single counts of assault and abandoning a child.

The woman is charged with five counts of assault and uttering death threats, four counts each of assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm and aggravated assault, two counts each of forcible confinement, failing to provide the necessities of life, abandoning a child and one count of counselling suicide.

Both accused appeared for a bail hearing on Thursday, Dec. 18. The man was released with conditions and a future court appearance date, while the woman was remanded into custody with a future court appearance date.

“The names of the accused are being withheld in an effort to protect the identities of the victims,” police said.