A Coquitlam daycare operator is being charged after an infant boy died in her care one year ago.
Maria McFerran of Rattle-N-Roll Daycare was charged Monday with criminal negligence causing death and failure to provide the necessaries of life in the Jan. 17, 2011, death of Arto Howley. As well, she is also charged with obstruction of justice "by interfering with or misdirecting a police investigation," according to court papers.
Coquitlam RCMP announced the charges at a press conference Monday afternoon, saying McFerran had been arrested earlier in the day.
McFerran, 48, appeared before a judge Monday afternoon in Port Coquitlam provincial court and was released with conditions: She must keep the peace and be of good behaviour, and she is not to care for or supervise any child under the age of 10.
She next appears in court on Wednesday, Jan. 18.
At the news conference outside of Coquitlam RCMP headquarters, police did not reveal the cause of death and Cpl. Jamie Chung said he can say little about the investigation.
"Charge approval is an important milestone in what has been a devastating incident for the victim's family and a difficult file for even our most seasoned investigators and victim services workers," Chung told reporters, reading from a prepared statement. "But our work is not over. The Coquitlam RCMP's Major Crimes investigators and our victim services team will continue to be heavily involved in this file as it moves through the courts."
He also said Howley's family has asked for privacy.
Chung said he didn't know whether Rattle-N-Roll, located in a home at 1312 Shaughnessy St. in Coquitlam, is still operating.
Asked why almost a year has passed between the infant's death and the criminal charges, Chung said police worked with many government agencies and, thus, the investigation took a great deal of time.
According to police at the time of Howley's death, police and emergency services first responded to a 911 call from inside the residence at 11:40 a.m. on Jan. 17, 2011.
At the time, Rattle-N-Roll was not licensed by the Fraser Health Authority but, in accordance with the health authority's guidelines, only those facilities that care for three or more children who are not related to the daycare operator or are not a sibling group need a licence.
Chung was unable to say on Monday how many children were under McFerran's care at the time of the boy's death.
"While we understand that this incident has raised a lot of questions and concerns in the community, there is very little we can say about the original incident or our investigation now that it is before the courts," Chung said.
