HE was a thin, battered boy with soulful eyes who slipped from this world alone and unnoticed in a small Toronto bedroom.

Now, almost four years later, the death of seven year-old Randal Dooley and the conviction of his father and stepmother this week for murder have touched the hearts of Canadians from coast to coast.

“Randal’s story has touched a core,” said Sue Hunter, executive director of the Toronto Child Abuse Centre, which has established a trust fund for Randal’s 11 year-old brother Tego, now living in Jamaica with his aunt, Beatrice Dooley. “The calls have been coming in from across the country. Our phones have literally been ringing off the hook.”

She said that some of the callers are very upset and angry. “They ask how this could happen and they want to know what they can do about it.”

The trust fund will go toward Tego’s education and any counselling he may need to come to terms with what his father did to his beloved younger brother, who lay next to him the final night of his life.

The jury’s verdict that Tony Dooley was responsible for Randal’s death was very hard on Tego, Crown prosecutor, Rita Zaied, said minutes after the decision was read on Thursday. The boy had hoped to be reunited with his father.

Tego went to school (Friday) as usual but was very quiet, said Valerie Howell, a friend of the boy’s aunt, speaking from Jamaica.

Changes to Ontario’s child-welfare legislation and to the way children’s aid societies deal with complaints of child abuse came too late for Randal.

But they may prevent the deaths of other abused children, said Bruce Rivers, executive director of the Toronto Children’s Aid Society.

Amendments to the Ontario Child and Family Welfare Services Act, which came into force in April, 2000, brought about two significant changes. One shifted focus to the safety and well being of children and made it a priority over the interest of keeping families together.

The act also made it everyone’s responsibility to report child abuse. “Today, everyone who sees signs of abuse has to report it, and report it again if they see a new sign.”

In Randal’s case, this would have meant that his teacher would have reported his broken arm and each time she noticed a new bruise or injury. That accumulation of information would now be entered into the database of the Children’s Aid Society and would raise a red flag.

Rivers said a social worker would now interview Randal alone and also speak with the teacher. This was not the procedure in 1998.

The society now enters each of the 150 calls it receives each day into a computer database that is accessible by every children’s aid society in the province. This can help track children when parents change jurisdiction.

“Had we had this in 1998, the outcome might have been very different,” Rivers said. But regardless of safeguards, “there is no tool known to mankind to predict who will kill their children. There will always be parents who kill their children.”

He said he hopes that the publicity about the case will act as a deterrent to others.

Raising public awareness about child abuse may be Randal’s lasting legacy, Hunter said.

Tony Dooley and his wife, Marcia, are to be sentenced May 1.

Damien Frost, Ms Dooleys lawyer, said he will wait for the sentencing before discussing a possible appeal with his client.

If the judge imposes a 10-year parole ineligibility on the Dooleys — the minimum allowed — he or she will have to serve the entire time before applying for parole. The maximum either could receive is an ineligibility period of 25 years.

It is not yet known where Marcia Dooley will serve her sentence. She may be sent to an out-of-province institution, possibly in Manitoba, if she requires protection from other inmates. While at the Metro West Detention Centre following her arrest, she was assaulted by several prisoners, including Elaine Rose Cece and Mary Taylor, the convicted killers of Toronto police Constable Bill Hancox.

Though the Dooleys did not testify at the trial, they could be forced to do so at a coroner’s inquest if one is held.

Ontario’s chief coroner, Dr James Young, said he needs several months to review the facts of the case to determine if an inquest is warranted. He could also review the case and write a report with recommendations.

“This case happened a long time ago and things have changed and are changing,” he said.

The story of Randal and his abuse has been the subject of intense media reporting.

— Reprinted from the Globe and Mail

Photos: Toronto Star