 Jason Wallace and his public relations manager J.P. Pampena outside the University Ave. courthouse where Wallace pleaded guilty to charges relating to an assault in 2006. (Jack Boland/SUN MEDIA)
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The father at the centre of a media frenzy over the treatment of his daughter at Sick Kids hospital pleaded guilty yesterday to charges stemming from an aggravated assault and robbery.
Instead of going to trial on the charges of aggravated assault and robbery, 34-year-old Jason Wallace pleaded guilty to the lesser charges of accessory after the fact to each of the counts.
Wallace's sentencing hearing was set for Jan. 25.
He drove the getaway car the night of Oct. 21, 2006, when a man was so severely beaten by Nicholas Zock and Kenneth Lowry -- who pleaded guilty to aggravated assault -- that he had to have a plate surgically implanted in his face, according to an agreed statement of facts read by Crown attorney Elizabeth Jackson.
Wallace admitted to offering the victim money if he didn't implicate him in the crime.
Wallace, who previously pleaded guilty to assault and was convicted of possession of crack cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, threw himself into the media spotlight in April when he said he wanted his infant daughter Kaylee's heart to be donated to another sick baby.
But Kaylee, who was born with a rare brain malformation, kept breathing on her own after she was taken off of a respirator before the scheduled transplant.
SICK KIDS RIPPED
Shortly after that, Wallace and Kaylee's mother, Crystal Vitelli, began throwing criticism at Sick Kids and accusing the world-renowned hospital of improper care of their daughter.
Clad in a pink, knitted sweater, Kaylee was with Vitelli at the back of the courtroom yesterday with heart-shaped pieces of tape holding oxygen tubes to her face, a heart monitor in her stroller, and a feeding tube and a breathing bag on hand because her illness, Joubert syndrome, can cause her to stop breathing.
The family has thrown themselves in and out of the news on such topics as the need for a helicopter to bring their daughter home to Bradford (despite hospital staff saying the chopper was unnecessary), the temporary breakup of Wallace and Vitelli and Wallace's job hunt.
Yesterday, Wallace told reporters he hasn't been able to find work because of the negative media attention he has received and that he's suing a company for $250,000 for "discrimination" for allegedly refusing him a job because of his notoriety.
Wallace said he refuses to take Kaylee back to Sick Kids, even though he said doctors in Ajax told him on Monday that he should do just that.
He and Vitelli said they plan to show up at the emergency room of the Ottawa children's hospital so doctors there can reassess Kaylee's situation.
If Ottawa doctors agree that Sick Kids is the best option and that Kaylee is in dire need of care, Wallace said: "I think we'd have to suck up our pride and have her back at Sick Kids," where the couple were barred last month from visiting their daughter without supervision.
TAMARA.CHERRY@SUNMEDIA.CA
