Photos of girls' wounds shown at Goforth murder trial

An expert in child abuse and maltreatment testified as the Goforth trial entered its second week.

Kevin and Tammy Goforth are on trial for the murder of a four-year-old and the abuse of a two-year-old who were both in their care in Regina in 2012.

Regina Dr. Sharon Leibel is part of the child abuse unit at Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region. The court has ruled Dr. Leibel can be classed as an expert in her field.

In August 2012, she was called to the General hospital to document and report the injuries seen on the two girls in the case.

Court heard Dr. Leibel first saw the four-year-old in the pediatric intensive care unit.

Dr. Leibel noted bruising, skin abrasions, open skin and scrapes across her body. There was a three-by-one centimetre bruise along the right wrist, front and back. She had ripped skin on her left wrist and similar bruising to the right wrist along with scarring.

In court, the doctor held up photographic evidence to the jury to indicate the particular bruising she described. The mother of the girls sat in the public gallery visibly upset by the testimony being heard. At one point, she had to leave.

Dr. Leibel testified the four-year-old’s legs were very skinny, “skin over bone” with bruising.

On the girl’s back, the doctor stated she had “never seen anything like it”, there were “layers of dead, dry skin” wherever a bone protruded.

She described the girl’s back looking “like buckshot” with lots of dots of open skin all over and in concentrated areas.

The doctor continued to testify to the injuries documented but is not suggesting what caused these injuries.

She can’t guess when the injuries occurred because “healing takes much longer in a sick or malnourished child”.

As for the two-year-old, Leibel testified, the girl was fed breakfast and acted, “ravenous”. The child’s stomach was distended after eating, typical of someone who hasn’t had food for “a prolonged period of time”.

Leibel testified some of the bruising and scabbing on the girl’s ankle looked like “thermal or friction” burns and the child was severely malnourished. She said her skin in places was “like an old woman” it was “wasted away”.

Leibel’s report shows that when social workers asked how the bruising on the wrist had occurred, the caregiver’s explanation was “they had to tape mittens to hands to prevent scratching”.

At one point, Leibel testified that a hand print caused bruising on the two-year-old’s face. The defence lawyers repeatedly objected, saying it was opinion rather than medical fact the doctor kept suggesting.

Under cross-examination, Leibel was also asked why she used emotional language in her report rather than medical descriptions. Speaking to the witness, the defence said, “apart from malnutrition, you have documented nothing but skin injuries”.

The trial continues this week.