Two mothers facing charges that included attempted murder in an Edmonton child abuse case have pleaded guilty to some of the allegations.
Five children were seized on Dec. 16, 2017, after police received a tip from a babysitter about conditions at a home on the city’s north side.
The children, all of whom were under the age of 10, were found in what police called a “shocking environmental and physical state.”
The women, who were 23 and 24 at the time, were charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, child abandonment, unlawful confinement and criminal negligence.
They have pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and unlawful confinement in relation to two sisters, who officers found confined to the basement.
An agreed statement of facts entered in court says that before the women left the home they used a large dresser to block the door to keep the three- and six-year-old girls from coming upstairs to get food.
The women also admitted to putting one of the girls in a cardboard box to discipline her.
Three other children had bedrooms upstairs.
The statement says the babysitter let the two girls out of the basement after she heard knocking. The children were wearing pull-up diapers and one had significant physical injuries. They asked for food and water.
The mothers returned home after 7 1/2 hours and one of them drove the 19-year-old babysitter home, says the document. The babysitter then contacted police.
The basement in the house was unfinished, did not have a bathroom, and no food or water was kept there, the statement says.
An officer who went to the home described the temperature in the basement as very hot and noted the smell of urine. Urine and feces were found on the basement floor and on a cardboard moving box.
Court heard doctors found that one of the girls had a blister on her hip, jaundice in her eyes, bruising to her abdomen and on her backside. She also had dried feces on her body. Her injuries required plastic surgery to the left hip and buttocks to remove dead tissue.
The other girl had broken teeth and abrasions on her back, leg and torso, described as belt imprints that will never fade.
Both girls had lice.
Our Morning Update and Evening Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.