COUPLE 'DEVASTATED' AFTER KIDS REMOVED FROM KITCHENER HOME FOLLOWING DRUG BUST

KITCHENER - Three children were removed from a Kitchener home in
April after police discovered their parents were growing marijuana
plants in the basement.

The 33-year-old man and his 24-year-old common-law wife have a
four-year-old child, and the man has two sons, one who is 13,
Kitchener's Ontario Court heard.

Although the marijuana grow operation was extremely small at only
four plants, Family and Children's Services took the children after a
police search of the rented Weber Street East home on April 30. (To
prevent the identification of the children, who had been in care of
FCS, their parents are not being named in this story.)

Police started investigating the couple after getting a tip about the
grow operation. The man suspected it came from his ex-spouse, court heard.

They found the plants in a storage room in the basement. They also
seized grow equipment, such as high-intensity light bulbs.

A small amount of marijuana was found in a bedroom. The man pleaded
guilty to producing marijuana.

He had been convicted in 2007 of possessing marijuana for the purpose
of trafficking in connection with a grow operation in Sarnia. He was
then fined $1,000.

He now works as a courier driver.

Two of the couple's three children were returned after several weeks,
court heard. The third is living with a grandmother.

Their removal was a devastating experience for the parents, court
heard. The social agency will be monitoring the family for a period of time.

The Crown and defence proposed a conditional sentence of 90 days, due
mainly to the small size of the grow-op.

But Justice Margaret Woolcott challenged that suggestion.

"Why should it be a conditional sentence at all?" she asked, noting
this is the man's second conviction for the same offence.

The man's lawyer said the grow-op was for the couple's personal use
and not meant to be sold for profit.

The man will be sentenced Nov. 1.