Paul and Zabeth’s three children are Kent, born October 18, 2004 (soon to have his fifth birthday); Baden, born June 12, 2005 and Bethany, born August 3, 2007.
Bethany and her brothers were taken from the Baynes home by the BC Government Ministry on October 22, 2007. Bethany was two months old at that time and she has not been home since then. She has never been returned to her mother and father.
This child was seized when the concerned parents took their struggling newborn daughter to the hospital following what they believed might have been an accident in which one of the small boys may have fallen on the infant’s head. She was not well and they did not know why. On the one hand medical professionals are to be commended for doing their job and flagging what might have potentially been parental abuse. But careful analysis and courtesies and common sense and wisdom were surrendered to the easy and horrible suspicion that one of these parents had shaken this baby causing the head injury. The children were taken from the parents in order to protect the children. That was then. In the weeks and months that followed, the Ministry of Children and Family Development(MCFD)was inundated with letters speaking to the parents’ character, integrity and reliability. There was nothing to suggest their guilt other than an unexplained head trauma. Time passed and the situation got worse, so much worse.
Paul and Zabeth had themselves never heard of Glutaric Aciduria yet in internal documents of the Ministry (MCFD)to which they were alerted, they learned that their daughter, who had been examined by doctors assigned by MCFD, may be suffering from Glutaric Aciduria, which interestingly is a condition often mistaken for shaken baby syndrome, or child abuse. Note that this was a Ministry report on file yet unprioritized in order to prefer the unsubstantiated conclusion that the baby had been shaken. Glutaric aciduria is a genetic disorder with varied symptoms, sometimes including bleeding and swelling of the brain. Doctors told CBC News investigators that the disorder has been mistaken for child abuse in other cases, and children suffering from it can die. This of course, while serving to speak to their innocence, also caused these parents grave concern because if the child were in their own care they would have wasted no time in having her assessed and treated.
Global television became interested in this news story and in their continuing agony, the Baynes agreed to an interview. That interview was recorded on the 15th of May 2008 but it was not shown until May 19th and 20th 2008. That timing it turned out was perilous for Paul and Zabeth and their small children. With the explanation that there was no evidence of abuse or neglect to the boys by the parents and their return to the parents posed no risk to the children, the Ministry (MCFD) indicated on May 16, 2008 that Bethany’s two brothers would be returned to the parents. That was the short-lived good news. On May 16th the Baynes signed an agreement with numerous stipulations in preparation for the boys’ return. One aspect of this mediation agreement was that the boys could only live with Paul and Zabeth within the supervised living arrangement in Zabeth's parents' lower mainland home rather than in Baynes' own new home in Hope, BC. A spark of hope ignited and a measure of happiness returned to this troubled family. But still they were without their daughter. She remained in foster care.
Then on May 21st, one day after the Global television show that aired on May 19th and 20th 2008, the Ministry, expressing indignation over the telecast claiming it represented a breach of the signed agreement, announced that the boys would be removed again. Remember, that the Baynes in desperation had agreed to the interview and recorded it at a date prior to their knowledge that the boys would be returned by the ministry. There clearly had been no contravention of the agreement. This is unspeakably horrible.
That seizure of these two small children, terrified by the arrival of two police officers, the Director for the Ministry of Children and Family and a social worker took place on June 12, 2008 which was Baden’s third birthday. In the midst of the happy birthday celebrations the invaders callously confiscated two boys from their loving family amid screams and tears. And of course, everyone is only doing his or her job - following orders you might say.
Watch the CBC news clip
CBC public news photo above
Look at Zabeth’s Blog site.
