The two people charged with aggravated domestic violence after an infant died in Trondheim were released from custody on Wednesday. The charges against the two remain unchanged.
“The accused have been released from custody because we no longer consider that there is a danger of evidence being lost.
“We have investigated (the matter) intensively and thoroughly in recent weeks, and through this, we have secured the material that was critical in the first phase of the investigation,” police attorney Silje Noem in Trøndelag Police District noted in a press release.
The two – a man and a woman – are still charged with aggravated domestic violence or complicity in it.
On December 11, the two were remanded in custody for four weeks in Inntrøndelag District Court.
The woman had her custody reduced to two weeks in the Frostating Court of Appeal.
Caregivers
On December 4, a child, who was less than a year old, was admitted to St. Olav’s hospital in Trondheim with internal injuries.
The child died at the hospital on December 10.
Police began an investigation on December 7 after the hospital contacted them.
The man and woman charged in the case were the child’s caregivers, and the child had been placed with them by the child welfare service.
Just over two weeks ago, the preliminary autopsy report was available in the case.
Working with several hypotheses
In the press release on Wednesday, the police wrote that the accused in the case have been in for new interviews and that they are still working on several hypotheses about what caused the injuries that led to the child’s death.
“Several medical examinations have been performed, for which we are awaiting a response.
“The final autopsy report is also expected in the New Year. These are important pieces that can help clarify what has happened,” police attorney Silje Noem said.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
If the baby’s death was not an accident but a crime, law enforcement should investigate the following as well for accountability:
1. Was the child given to the child welfare service for placement or taken away from the biological parent(s)?
2. Did the child welfare service thoroughly investigate the “carers” before placement?
“The man and woman charged in the case were the child’s caregivers, and the child had been placed with them by the child welfare service.”
The care-givers will likely have been registered foster parents and as such will have been vetted and been taken through a period of training.
My question this case is whether the care-givers were registered foster parents or, as you question, placed with other members of the family. Either way, Barnevarn are going to have the rulebook thrown at them and rightly so.
I hope the biological parents are able to receive the care they need and are not left to their own devices.
This is truly astonishing. A dreadful situation. Poor baby, poor biological parents! Granted, there will of course be good reason for Barnevarn to remove the baby from the biological parents in the first place. Nevertheless, surely, those parents will have taken a modicum of comfort form the face that their baby will be able to grow up different options and life choices open to it.
So, what is the situation for the biological parents now that the care system has, allegedly, failed them?