A Winnipeg woman has been charged in the aggravated assault of a 6-month-old child.

Constable Rob Carver, of Winnipeg Police Service (WPS), says, "The child was in the care of an adult female who ran an unlicensed in-home daycare. WPS officers had, by coincidence, had been at the home early in the day on an unrelated matter and the child had been seen in good health. Later that day, the victim's parents picked up the child and observed the child appeared to be in severe medical distress.

"This condition worsened and EMS were called to convey the child to Children's Hospital. A medical assessment revealed that the victim was suffering from multiple serious head injuries, as the result of significant head trauma."

Carver confirms that these injuries are significant and will change this family's, and the child's, life forever. "I can tell you that these injuries will be lifelong. ... life altering and lifelong."

Carver speaks from experience as he says, "The rules concerning daycares...are pretty strict. I can tell you that, years ago, my children were in a licensed in-home daycare. The licensing requirements are very stringent. We took a lot of comfort in knowing the sort of rules that were in play. The risk, of course, is if you are paying someone to take of your child and it's not licensed...well, you're just incurring a significant risk."

An extensive investigation by members of the Winnipeg Police Service Child Abuse Unit was initiated in 2018 and on June 26, 2019 detectives arrested the daycare operator, Annette Akerhor Onakpoya, age 37, and charged her with aggravated assault.