A former Mississauga daycare operator found guilty of manslaughter in the death of a 14-month-old child has been sentenced to six years in prison.
April Luckese, who will be given credit for the 24 days she previously served in custody, was convicted of manslaughter in March in connection with the 2011 death of Duy-an Nguyen.
The child was found unconscious at Luckese’s unlicensed home daycare in January 2011 and died in hospital two days later after suffering a fractured skull.
Luckese previously said that she tripped while holding the girl, who then hit her head on a bannister.
The Crown argued that Luckese had become frustrated with the child, who was awake when she was supposed to be sleeping, and shook her.
"The assault took but seconds in her otherwise exemplary life," Justice Gordon Lemon said before issuing the sentence. "I am satisfied this was entirely out of character for her."
The judge told the court that while she believed Luckese was repentant for her actions, she could not justify why Luckese did not call 911.
"I have no doubt that Ms. Luckese is remorseful. I have no doubt that Ms. Luckese is a good person who has done a bad thing. I have the utmost sympathy for her and for her family. What has occurred is a tragedy," said Lemon.
"While the assault was a momentarily failure on Ms. Luckese's part, her failure to get this infant proper treatment was a significant breach of trust."
Though they were not present in court on Monday, the judge commended the parents of Nguyen. She told the court that the loss of a child can often ‘tear families apart,’ but the Nguyen’s have endured as a family and even had another child.
Defence lawyer Stephen Whitzman called the sentence “reasonable.”
"I was hoping for a little bit lower, more like four years," said Stephen Whitzman, Luckese's defence lawyer. "But I think six years is certainly a reasonable sentence and it's not my intention to appeal the sentence."
Whitzman does, although, plan on appealing Luckese’s conviction.
With files from Tamara Cherry.
