| FAS Victim Faces Murder Charges | |
It is a tragedy of far-reaching implications which left one family without a 9-year-old daughter and a Nation wondering how to deal with offenders who suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome.
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Alcohol and Pregnancy Pregnancy & Drinking Alcohol Effects |
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Police arrested David Trott, 20, on May 7 in Kamloops, B.C., after a massive manhunt. Trott, a friend of the Russell family, suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome, the result of the drinking while pregnant of his now deceased alcoholic mother, who died while driving drunk. Trott was charged with the kidnapping and first-degree murder.
Trott had been released from jail just two days prior to the disappearance of Jessica, mainly because the courts simply did not know what to do with him.
Released from Custody
Trott's lawyer Dan Henderson told Judge Susan Antifaev during the hearing at which he was release from custody, that his client's life had been a tragedy from birth, and he would never lead a normal life.He suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome, he had attention deficit disorder, he was bipolar, he was paranoid; he was delusional; he drifted into dissociative states where his thoughts became jumbled. He had been sexually abused as an infant, beaten as a child.
By the age of 20 he had a lengthy criminal record involving violence and theft. Trott was in Maple Ridge provincial court May 2 to face sentencing for auto theft and assault, crimes committed in January.
No Help Available
"It is a really tragic story because, really, I can't say to you Mr. Trott has a lot of hope in his life without some ongoing help," Henderson told court, according to transcripts. "I don't think there's an institution that we can send Mr. Trott to. If there was, I would stand down and say: 'Well, let's put it over a month and maybe we can find something.' But to my knowledge there's nothing out there that will be his salvation, some sort of place they send other people like him."Fetal alcohol syndrome, a mentally disabling birth defect, can impair judgment and make it hard to understand consequences of their actions. Henderson told the court that brain damage associated with fetal alcohol syndrome is "not something that can be treated and cured, not even a psychiatric facility would help him."
"His needs have not been met by our mental health ministry," said a victim assistance worker from British Columbia. "Our mental health advocate has just released an audit and finds many deficiencies in the way mental health services are delivered, FAS/FAE patients being some of the most often ignored."
Now little Jessica is dead and a confused and bewildered Trott sits in jail facing murder charges. The case will certainly judge how the Canadian justice system deals with the mentally troubled.
FAS - A Diagnosis, Not a Label
Parenting a child with fetal alcohol syndrome can be a challenge, but it is not hopeless. There are resources available to help.FAS / FAE In the Classroom
Some or all of these common classroom symptoms may happen to children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or Effects.
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