by Jennifer Pritchett
Northern News Services

NNSL (Apr 23/97) - A woman has been charged with stabbing her 10-year-old son twice with a knife in what one firefighter calls the worst case of child assault the department has ever seen.

Firemedics arrived at the Sissons Court home just before 1 a.m., after the boy's 13-year-old brother called them for help. The Yellowknife fire department reported the incident to the RCMP, who arrived a short time later.

The boy was taken to Stanton Regional Hospital, where he was treated for stab wounds to his arm and then released.

Deputy fire chief Mike Lowing said that it was the worst case of assault against a child the fire department has ever seen.

"We've never seen something to that extent," he said. "It's violence against a child. It's a notch higher than child abuse. And you wonder how many other kids are in the same situation."

Carolyn Mandrusiak, acting CEO of Yellowknife Health and Social Services, wouldn't comment on the seriousness of the incident. "All child abuse is serious," she said.

She did confirm that Social Services is investigating the case, which will eventually end up in family court as a child protection issue.

"If a child remains in care for more than 48 hours, the matter goes to court," she said.

While she wouldn't confirm if the victim is in the care of Social Services, she would say that some of the family's three children are being looked after by the department.

Mandrusiak said the protection issue is separate from the criminal charge the mother is now facing.

"One will be dealt with in family court and the other in criminal court," she said.

The accused, charged with assault with a weapon, was released from custody on an undertaking after she appeared in territorial court Monday afternoon.