Ryan Podhorodecki sentenced to 5 years for killing girlfriend's toddler in Calgary

A former Calgary man who admitted to fatally assaulting his girlfriend's toddler to get him to be quiet has beensentenced to 5 years in prison.

Ryan John Podhorodeckientered a guilty plea for manslaughter in the case earlier this year in connection with the 2005 death oftwo-year-old son Blake Harvey.

Harvey died in hospital in December2005, three days after police and paramedics were called to a southeast Calgary home where they found the childin medical distress.

The medical examiner later determined that his death was a homicide, concluding that the boy had suffered multiple blunt force injuries and internal bleeding.

Not enough initial evidence

The child's mother and Podhorodecki both of whom were 22 at the time were the only two adults living in the home.

Podhorodecki told investigators in the days following the boy's deaththat he suspected Blake got hit by a toy or fell down when he was play-fighting with his three-year-old brother.

Police didn't have enough evidence to determine who caused Blake's fatal injuries and no charges were laid at the time

Podhorodecki, who moved to Kelowna, was arrested in 2015 following a cold case investigation.

His defence lawyer, Balfour Der, saidhis client confessed to undercover police in a so-called "Mr. Big" operation that he had caused Blake's injuries.

Crown and defence counsel submitted a joint sentencing proposal, signed byPodhorodecki,to provincial court Judge PaulMason at the end of January.

Admits to giving boy 'licking'

The submission details a conversation Podhorodeckihad with an undercover officer in which he admitted to giving Blake a "licking" because he and his older brother were playing noisily whilePodhorodecki was trying to sleep.

He told the officer that he slapped the boy twice on the head and squeezed his face before pushing him to a wall, causing his head to hit the wall. He then threw the boy on a bed and "folded him in half" and applying pressure so that his feet were near his ears, the document says.

Podhorodeckiwent back to bed for a brief time but was woken up by Blake's brother, who told him something was wrong. Podhorodeckifound the boy unconscious and not breathing. He gave him CPR, after which Blake vomited and fell unconscious again.

According to the agreed statement, Podhorodecki cleaned up the mess, then called the boy's mother, who told him to call 911, which he did.

Blake never regained consciousness.

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