Dad who abandons baby in hotel room to go drinking gets 10 months (Winnipeg, Canada)

Dad PETER KANABEE brought his 9-month-old daughter into Winnipeg on the bus, presumably because the baby had a medical appointment. He and the baby checked into a downtown hotel for the night, and around 9 PM, Dad figured he needed cigarettes. So he put the baby on the floor and left the room. Then it seems that Daddy met up with an old "friend" who offered him a drink. Well, you know, one thing just leads to another, and Daddy ended up at a party where he passes out. Meanwhile, hotel staff had been alerted about the baby's cries that morning, so they rescued the child, who had a severe diaper rash and was taken to the hospital. The police arrested Daddy's drunken @$$ when he finally made it back to the hotel--which was around 2 PM the next afternoon.

INVISIBLE MOTHER ALERT: Not one word on the mother. It's as if this baby hatched from an egg. And not a word on who was taking care of this baby while Daddy goes to jail. Is this a single father? What?

And don't you love the fact that this guy blames his total lack of personal responsibility on his lack of a father? Some how this just reeks of fathers' rights. No way you can learn right from wrong, or how not to get "stressed" or "frustrated" or "give up" unless you have a daddy in your life? Just a lot of self-serving crap.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2010/05/13/man-abandoned-dad-st-regis.html

Dad who left baby to go drinking gets 10 months
Came to Winnipeg for infant's treatment; abandons her in hotel room
Last Updated: Thursday, May 13, 2010 3:58 PM CT

By James Turner, CBC News

A Manitoba father who abandoned his infant daughter in a downtown Winnipeg hotel room for 16 hours to go and drink at a house party has been sentenced to 10 months in jail.

Peter Kanabee, 31, pleaded guilty Thursday to a single charge of failing to provide the necessaries of life.

'There's just no ability to trust this individual with children.'
—Crown attorney Terry McCombThe Crown stayed charges of criminal negligence causing body harm and child abandonment.

Court heard that on Feb 11, Kanabee came to the city by overnight bus from Thompson with his nine-month-old daughter so she could attend a medical appointment.

According to the Crown, the pair checked into the St. Regis hotel at about 10 p.m. CT, but by 11 p.m. Kanabee had left his daughter on the floor of the room to go outside for a cigarette.

He met up with a friend outside who offered him liquor. He once tried to return to the hotel but was removed by security for being intoxicated. Without saying anything to guards about the baby in his room, he left and went to a house party in the North End where he drank 10 beers and passed out, Crown attorney Terry McComb said.

Kanabee returned to the hotel at 2 p.m. the next day and was immediately arrested by police who had been called there by staff because of the abandoned baby.

He has been behind bars ever since, after being denied bail a few days after his arrest.

Infant's screams alert staff

The terrified infant was discovered prior to Kanabee's return after guests overheard its frantic screams for attention at 11 a.m.

Staff opened the door of the room and found the baby on the floor behind the door. She was suffering from extreme diaper rash and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Police were called and took charge of the situation. After finding Kanabee's photo and ID in his knapsack, they waited for him to return.

He initially told them that he had tried to get back in the hotel three times, but surveillance footage showed he only came back once, McComb said.

McComb asked Judge Ted Lismer to sentence Kanabee to four more months in jail, saying the defenceless infant was completely dependent on him to look out for her welfare.

"She was not even a toddler that could knock on the door or yell for help," McComb said. "His absence relates to his own selfish interest."

'Severe danger'

Kanabee was granted two-for-one credit for the three months he spent in jail before pleading guilty. He was charged just a week prior to a law taking effect that eliminates the time-served credit for remanded prisoners.

Lismer also granted a Crown request that Kanabee serve three years of probation after his release, with special conditions limiting his contact with minors.

"There's just no ability to trust this individual with children," McComb said.

'I get stressed and frustrated and I give up.'
—Peter KanabeeKanabee has suffered with an alcohol problem for more than a decade, his lawyer said.

He had every intention of going back to the hotel, but the liquor got the better of him.

He passed out and had trouble finding his way back downtown, Rod Brecht said, adding that Kanabee is extremely remorseful.

"Certainly it was a dereliction of his parental responsibility," Brecht said.

Lismer chided Kanabee for putting the girl in "severe danger," saying that it was possible the baby could have been seriously hurt or even died.

In a rambling address to the court, Kanabee promised he was trying to change his life and deal with his addiction issues.

"I didn't have a father figure to teach me right from wrong," he said. "I get stressed and frustrated and I give up.

"I should have stayed with my daughter at all times," he said.

"I'm very sorry, especially to my baby daughter," Kanabee added.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2010/05/13/man-abandoned-dad-st-regis.html#ixzz0nqWuFrnQ