Ian McIlwaine says he and his wife have accepted an apology from the Squamish RCMP, but the whole situation has changed the way he will parent.
The Squamish RCMP paid a visit to McIlwaine’s home two weeks ago over a complaint from a neighbour that the McIlwaine’s four-year-old son, Tyler, was playing in the front yard naked the previous sunny Sunday while his dad was waxing the car nearby.
After the story about McIlwaine and his family went viral last week, McIlwaine, his wife, Margita, and two sons met with the Squamish RCMP on April 29.
The boys got to play in a police car and then the officer who had originally visited the home and Staff Sgt. Brian Cumming sat down with the parents. The whole meeting lasted about an hour and a half, McIlwaine said.
“After all the time we have had with the RCMP, we do feel resolved. I am not going after anything from the detachment or any officer. We are done,” said McIlwaine. “We did it the way it is supposed to be done: We sat down and we talked about it… all I wanted was resolve for my family and they handled that like a champ.”
McIlwaine’s wife was originally visited on Wednesday April 22 and McIlwaine flew back from a business trip to comfort her and their sons. The boys had overheard the parents discuss the officer’s comment that child protective services might become involved.
The RCMP said in a statement to The Squamish Chief that the parents’ concerns were addressed in the meeting Wednesday.
“The issue of the officer's comment that the Ministry for Child and Family Development (MCFD) could be contacted if there were further reports was also discussed, and it was explained to the McIlwaines that this does occur when an investigation reveals that a child may be at risk. In this case however, as there was no indication the children were at risk, no contact with MCFD was considered. An apology was made to the McIlwaines for this comment having been made in a premature way as it had clearly upset them, and they accepted this apology,” said the statement from Cumming.
“It was emphasized that the reason for investigating was to ensure there was no child safety concern, not that a child was naked. They were advised the investigation revealed no such concern, and the file was concluded the day the complaint was received.”
The neighbour who called had suggested the boy was running into the street, according to police.
In response to the assertion that the visit was about child safety and not nakedness, McIlwaine said the matter was closed and he wouldn’t comment on that aspect.
“If you are going to ask for forgiveness in this, then you better be able to give forgiveness,” he said.
McIlwaine doesn’t know which neighbour reported the incident to police three days after it happened and he said he no longer wants to know. “It is not going to do me any good,” he said.
The police officer visited within hours of RCMP receiving the call.
The whole situation has made McIlwaine change how he will parent in the future, he said. Even though he felt it was right before, he wouldn’t let his young son play naked again.
“If I had known it would bother someone, I would never intentionally do it,” he said. “I certainly don’t want to go through this ever again.”
