'Dancing mom' gets 3 years for daughter's death

CTV.ca News Staff

A Toronto father pronounced himself "sick" after the salsa-dancing mother of his toddler daughter was given a three-year sentence in connection with the child's death by abandonment.

"I'm sick to my stomach," Mark Yetman told reporters outside a Toronto courthouse on Monday. "You go out and beat up a guy on the street corner, you get five or 10 years. You kill my kid, it's totally fine."

Clara DaSilva, his former girlfriend, went salsa dancing in September 2002. She left her two-year-old daughter Adrianna alone in a sweltering apartment for 33 hours.

The temperature in the apartment rose to at least 35 degrees Celsius, and she had no food or water. DaSilva had lied to people, saying someone was at her apartment taking care of Adrianna.

On the evening of Sept. 9, DaSilva returned to her apartment to find her daughter face down in her crib.

Court was told that DaSilva left the apartment to get some money, and it wasn't until an hour later that she asked a neighbour to call for help.

CTV News Toronto's John Lancaster reported that Adrianna was frequently left alone.

The little girl was never taken for routine medical appointments and immunizations, and her diaper rash had gotten so bad that it was akin to second-degree burns.

"I feel like I've been shot," Yetman said. "For her to get three years -- big deal."

The maximum sentence for manslaughter is life in prison.

The prosecution had asked for eight to 12 years, while the defence argued for a conditional sentence of two years less a day. An appeal of the sentence by the Crown is under consideration.

In considering the sentence, Lancaster said the judge reasoned that DaSilva is a first-time offender, and is not considered a threat to society.

DaSilva's lawyer argued no parent would assume that leaving a baby alone for 33 hours could kill the child.

With files from CTV's John Lancaster
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You know your children are growing up when they stop asking you where they came from and refuse to tell you where they are going

Posted: Tue, Apr 12 2005, 10:37 am Post subject: Dancing Mom

Where was the father all this time? It seems the neglect was not new.

Posted: Tue, Apr 12 2005, 11:30 am Post subject:

Executive Member Joined: Dec 06 2004 Posts: 468

alef, u mirrored my reaction exactly. that's not to say that the mom isn't a murderess, but the father should've seen her neglectfulness and tried to do s/t about it. again, that's not to say that he didn't, but the article doesn't mention a/t about his efforts to gain custody of the poor toddler. as distraught as the father is, the victim is still the dead child.

Platinum Member Joined: Sep 11 2004 Posts: 19241

I really dont want to be judgemental in such an awful situation but obviously the neglect was ongoing. this is not just neglect, its straight out abuse, for a baby to have a diaper rash so severe. does anyone else get the feeling from the father's words that hes trying to shirk his responsibility and say, "oh, it wasnt my fault, it was only her's?"

if I was involved in such a tragedy chas vesholom, even if I was just the babysitter, I would of course blame myself for not being more careful...

Posted: Tue, Apr 12 2005, 2:59 pm Post subject:

that is one horrible story and to think a diaper rash that is almost a second degree burn ouch!! even a regular rash is a killer. I think they should really check out the father unless he must live in a different state or something cause doesn't he get visitation rights or something that he could have seen a rash or neglect in some way or another?

Posted: Tue, Apr 12 2005, 3:20 pm Post subject:

I have to say where was the father? If all this was seen before this tragedy happened, why didn't anyone do anything? Were social services not told about it? If it was so bad why wasn't the father the sole carer of the child? Maybe he wasn't such a great guy either. The mother sounds like she's majorly depressed or completely off her rocker to have left her kid 33 hours in the heat without thinking or neglecting her child like that.
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Executive Member Joined: Dec 06 2004 Posts: 468

we assume that the diaper rash didnt occur during the 33 hours prior to the baby's death.