A 28-year-old Virden man has been sent to jail for 60 days for locking his young son in a car last winter while he played VLTs in a local lounge.
Curtis Fedak was in provincial court in Virden last week facing a charge of failure to provide the necessities of life.
Court heard that Fedak went to a Virden bar on Feb. 4 to gamble at the machines leaving his three-and-a-half-year-old son in the cold, locked car when it was -19 C with the wind chill.
"Frighteningly Long Time"
Crown attorney Rich Lonstrup told the Virden Empire Advance, “This wasn’t just leaving a kid in the car for a few minutes to get a grocery item. He stayed in the VLT lounge a frighteningly long time, up to 33 minutes in total.”
An employee of the bar noticed the child in the car and told Fedak he couldn’t leave him alone out there. Fedak’s response was to park the car somewhere else with the child still inside and return to the lounge.
When the employee realized what he had done, she called police.
Police called a tow truck driver to the scene who opened the doors releasing the child, unhurt.
Child and Family Services became involved in the case and the boy was reunited with his mother, who has custody.
At that time, Fedak was ordered to take parenting classes but lied to his probation officer, saying the classes were full so he couldn’t go.
Loving Father
At Fedak’s sentencing, lawyer Bob Harrison told court his client used bad judgment but is a loving father who has accepted responsibility for what he did. He said Fedak has struggled with drugs and alcohol in the past.
Lonstrup said, “Lots of people who do stupid things can get leniency from the court, but this guy didn’t do anything to address his underlying problems like gambling, parenting or whatever.”
Along with the 60 days in custody, Fedak was given two years probation. Judge Donovan Dvorak also ordered him to have no contact or communication with his child without CFS supervision, to get counselling and take parenting classes.
