Calgary father jailed two years for gross neglect of adult son with cerebral palsy

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Neglecting his disabled adult son to the point that the victim was near death has landed a Calgary man two years in prison.

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And in agreeing to a joint submission by defense lawyers and the Crown that included putting Jonathon Grunewald on three years’ probation, Judge Keith Yamauchi said the offender was lucky not to be in court on a much more serious charge.

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Yamauchi noted that one of the conditions Grunewald suffered from was cerebral palsy, the same illness that Robert Latimer’s daughter suffered from before his death and conviction for second-degree murder.

“This was pretty close to that,” Yamauchi said, of the condition Grunewald’s son, 27, was in when he was finally hospitalized on Oct. 24, 2020.

When Grunewald and the victim’s mother, Malinda Phillips, pleaded guilty in January, the court heard the victim weighed just 43 pounds when Phillips and Grunewald finally sought medical attention for him.

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Crown prosecutor Janice Walsh said he was in critical condition and near death at the time.

At the time of admission, he suffered from hypothermia, with a body temperature of 27.2 C, sepsis, severe malnutrition and dehydration, and acute liver disease. failureWalsh said, reading from a statement of agreed facts.

“(The son) was accepted in critical condition in shock… weighing only 43 pounds,”, he told Judge Keith Yamauchi.

Walsh and defense attorney Michael Bates filed a joint petition seeking two years in prison followed by three years probation.

Bates said that while Grunewald was responsible for neglecting the victim for five years prior to his hospitalization, he noted that there were many years in which he received proper care.

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“No one is claiming that it was all bad,” Bates said.

“Over a period of five years, all of a sudden, things calmed down.”

Bates explained that part of Grunewald’s difficulty was confronting Phillips about the care of his son and the “marital discord” between them.

He said Grunewald is open to advice to help him deal with his own problems.

Yamauchi said that while Grunewald’s remorse was a mitigating factor, it probably came too late for his victim.

“(He) would probably say he took steps to rehabilitate himself 27 years late,” the King’s Court judge said.

Before sentencing, Grunewald apologized for his failure to provide his son with proper medical care before it was almost too late.

“I take full responsibility for my actions,” he said.

“I’m really sorry.”

Phillips was also supposed to be sentenced Tuesday, but defense attorney Rebecca Snukal said he had a medical emergency that required surgery and his recovery process is unclear.

The attorney will update the court on October 21 to determine if a sentencing date can be set at that time.

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