A woman stands outside the Port Alberni courthouse on Thursday, May 16, 2024, holding a photo of Dontay Lucas. She is there for the sentencing in the manslaughter case of the Hesquiat boy. (Claire Palmer/CBC)
The mother and stepfather of Dontay Lucas, a six-year-old boy from Hesquiat who died in 2018, were sentenced to 15 years in prison for manslaughter. The sentencing took place on Thursday in a B.C. Supreme Court. Justice Michael Tammen announced the decision to a packed courtroom filled with family, friends, and supporters of Dontay, who wore stickers reading "Dontay Patrick Lucas, 2012-2018, gone but not forgotten."
Rykel Frank (née Charleson) and Mitchell Frank, the accused, sat silently in leg shackles. Charleson wore a white T-shirt and black sweatpants, and Frank wore an orange sweatshirt and pants. After the sentencing, family members came forward to express forgiveness. Judy Campbell, addressing the accused, said, "We, your family, forgive you. In order to let our little man rest, we forgive you."
Outside the courthouse, Dontay’s biological father, Patrick Lucas, felt relieved. "A lot of weight has been lifted off my shoulders," he said. "Our healers gave us a beautiful message that my boy is set free now. He can rest in peace."
The court heard the agreed statement of facts, detailing the severe abuse Dontay endured before his death. He was beaten, bitten, deprived of food, water, and sleep, and forced to hang by his knees from a door until he fell. Pathologists found numerous bruises, abrasions, and blunt-force trauma to his head. He also suffered from a severe respiratory infection. The official cause of death was blunt-force trauma to the head.
Both the Crown and the defense recommended a 15-year sentence in a joint submission, which Tammen accepted. He highlighted the serious nature of the crime, the prolonged abuse, and the vulnerability of a young child in a trusted relationship. Tammen also referred to "powerful Gladue factors," which consider the unique circumstances of Indigenous offenders. Both Charleson and Frank, members of the Hesquiat and Ahousaht First Nations respectively, came from difficult backgrounds and struggled with substance abuse.
Dontay was one of four children in the care of Charleson and Frank at the time of his death. He had been removed from a foster home and placed with his mother and stepfather four months before he died. The decision to reunite him with his mother was made by Usma Nuu-chah-nulth Family and Child Services, an agency responsible for the guardianship of Indigenous children.
Despite the sentencing, the Lucas family still has many questions about the systemic failures that led to Dontay’s death. Family spokesperson Graham Hughes expressed the need for answers from the province and the Ministry of Children and Family Development. "Dontay's death and the tortures that he went through were no secret. Where did the failures happen and how did they happen are the big questions we have right now," he said.
With credit for time served, Charleson and Frank will spend the next 12 years in federal prison. Judith Sayers, president of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, stated that Dontay’s death has had a "profound and long-lasting impact on the Nuu-chah-nulth communities."
