How Could You? Hall of Shame-Canada Foster Sibling Abuse UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Calgary, Alberta, Canada, a 13-year-old foster child has been charged  with “three counts of sexual assault and three counts of sexual interference” on foster children in the same home. The home has boys aged 2, 4 and 6. He was arrested on Tuesday January 3, 2012 after police “were called by a third party to a foster home at 9:40 p.m. for a sexual assault complaint witnessed that day.”

“The accusations against a 13-year-old boy charged with sexually assaulting his three young foster brothers are “shocking” and “horrifying,” Calgary police said.

The accused had been living in the foster home for “quite a long time, a number of years,” said Johnston.

Police say they’re looking into the possibility that the alleged assaults had been ongoing.

There may be more victims, investigators say.

“That is a concern of ours,” said Johnston. “Given we’re dealing with very vulnerable people, we’re looking to learn if there were others.”

The diminutive, shaggy-haired teen, who appeared in youth court Thursday morning wearing a dark, baggy sweatshirt, answered Judge Stephen Lipton’s questions politely.

The teen remains in custody and is scheduled to appear in court again Monday [January 9, 2012]  for a bail hearing.

Lipton asked duty counsel James Conley and Crown prosecutor Marta Juzwiak if the Calgary Young Offender Centre had made arrangements in light of the allegations against the boy.

“I don’t know if he’s sharing a room with somebody else, but I’d be concerned if he is,” the judge said.

Police say they had been called to the foster home in the past, but only for reports of an overdue bike ride.

On Tuesday, a call from a third party “with direct knowledge” alerted police to the house.

“This has been a horrifying experience for the witness as well. They’ve suffered,” said Johnston.””

“The province has removed the children from the foster home, which is shut down during an investigation by Alberta Human Services, an organization that oversees children’s welfare.

Officials can’t say whether lack of supervision played a role in the sex abuse allegations.

“Any time there is an incident, we do conduct an investigation. Typically, we would assess the situation and make sure the children are safe and if they need to be in a new placement,” said spokeswoman Roxanne Dube Coelho.

“The kids would be removed and placed in a new home.”

Medical and psychological supports are being offered to the young victims, Dube Coelho said.

While foster homes are subject to regular monitoring by the province, no one can say how often the victims’ home was checked on due to privacy regulations, said Dube Coelho.

“We do checks on a regular basis, making sure kids are safe. We do ongoing monitoring.””

Foster home sex assault case against 13-year-old boy ‘horrifying,’ Calgary police say
[Calgary Herald 1/6/12 by  Sherri Zickefoose and Jason van Rassel]

Sex assault charges against 13-year-old ‘horrifying,’ police say
[The Province 1/5/12 by Sherri Zickefoose and Jason van Rassel, PostMedia News]
REFORM Puzzle Piece

The articles say that the victims of the 13-year-old are receiving medical and psychological supports. The question is why wasn’t the 13-year-old perpetrator being offered these supports or being monitored more to prevent this from happening? Was this child in many homes prior to this? Were the foster parents informed of his behaviors? Social services need to be proactively providing therapies to children.

Update: “[T]he child’s foster mother says the teen is not malicious, instead painting a picture of a boy who may be mentally challenged.

“He’s an ADHD and most probably FAS. But he’s kind of delayed.”

The foster mother says she doesn’t believe the accused had any intent to harm the other children.

“He’s been with me for so many years and they were just playing… just sort of brothers and what I think, I mean for me, is that they were just fooling around among themselves.”

Criminal lawyer Balfour Der says the first thing the court will do is order psychiatric testing to determine the child’s mental capacity.

“In this case if, for instance, the young person were mentally challenged or disabled – so they couldn’t form the intent – that would certainly go into whether the person is guilty or not.”

The identities of the teen and his foster mother are protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. ”

 Did she just downplay the sexual assault? I can understand wanting the 13-year-old child to get therapy, but what about the victims of the assault? “fooling around among themselves”?

Foster mother of 13-year-old accused of sexual assault comments on charges
[Global Calgary 1/6/12]

Update 2: “The city teen charged in the “horrifying” sexual assault of three young boys in the foster home where all four resided has been freed pending trial.

But youth court Judge Lillian McLellan imposed strict conditions on the 13-year-old’s freedom, including that he be under house arrest at a Calgary group home facility pending trial.

The youth can only leave the facility under escort by a staff member, his one-to-one worker, or an adult approved in writing in advance.

He’s also to have no unsupervised contact with anyone under 16, is prohibited from possessing any weapons and can have no contact with his alleged victims.

Among the other conditions of his bail are that he is barred from consuming any alcohol or drugs, and can have no access to pornography.

McLellan made the order releasing the accused after hearing submissions from defence counsel Ian McNish and Crown prosecutor Carla MacPhail.

She granted a publication ban on those submissions at McNish’s request.

The boy was arrested two weeks ago in connection with a Jan. 3, incident in which a witness reported to police seeing “an assault in progress” at a Calgary home just before 10 p.m.

The youth faces three charges each of sexual assault and sexual interference for the alleged abuse of three children, age 2, 4, and 6.

Child abuse Det. Stephen Johnston said after the teen’s arrest the case was one of the more disturbing he’s dealt with.

“It is definitely shocking and quite horrifying,” Johnston said.

The three alleged victims have been removed from the home and government officials are investigating whether foster care procedures were properly followed.

The accused was being housed at the Calgary Young Offender Centre where he was under supervision at all times and prohibited from having a cell mate.

He returns to court on Feb. 2.”

Teen charged with sexual assault in Calgary foster home granted bail
[Calgary Sun 1/17/12 by Kevin Martin]

Update 3: Teen admits guilt for assault on 4 year old.

“A 13-year-old boy has admitted he had sex with a four-year-old boy on a regular basis for a year at the Calgary foster home in which they resided, after watching “gay porn” on the home computer.
The teen, identified only as T, pleaded guilty through his lawyer Ian McNish on Thursday to one count of sexual assault against the victim, identified as J.

Youth court Judge Lynn Cook-Stanhope accepted the plea after hearing an agreed statement of facts read into the record by Crown prosecutor Carla MacPhail.

She then ordered a pre-sentence report and adolescent forensic psychiatric and psychological reports under the Youth Criminal Justice, to be prepared in time for sentencing arguments on July 13.

MacPhail said the youth was arrested on Jan. 3 after the husband of a couple living next door saw from his office, which looks directly into a next-door bedroom window, the accused forcing sex upon the younger boy.

He called his wife to bring the phone to call 911. When police arrived 15 minutes later, the neighbour pointed the officers to the bedroom where the sexual assault was still occurring.

When police knocked on the door of the home, the neighbour observed the light in the accused’s room extinguish almost immediately, MacPhail said, reading from the court document.

T then went to the door and let police enter the residence.

“Upon police asking him if he knew why they were there, T was co-operative, stating that he was ‘bad . . . I had sex with him – yes with J.'”

T was arrested and taken to police headquarters, where he was interviewed. He told the officers he did not want counsel nor an adult person present for the interview.

He then admitted to the repeated sex assaults and advised the officer he had never been abused himself, but got the idea to have sex with J through watching “gay porn” on the computer in the home where he had resided since his foster parents purchased the home.

He had lived with them for just over 10 years.

Court heard there were two other young children – aged six and two years – living in the same foster home at the time T was arrested.

Police initially charged T with three counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual interference, but those charges will be dealt with on a later date.

All four children were removed from the home because of the events that occurred on Jan. 3, court heard. They currently reside elsewhere.

T was granted bail about two weeks after his arrest and ordered to live in a group home under 24-hour house arrest with several strict conditions, including one-to-one supervision of a youth worker.

The accused also must not have contact with any of the victims or alleged victims or any other person under the age of 16.

He must not attend any park, swimming pool, daycare centre or other location where people under 16 years old might be present. ”

Teen admits sex with four-year-old boy at Calgary foster home for more than year
[Edmonton Journal 3/30/12 by Daryl Slade/Calgary Herald]

Update 4:”A 13-year-old boy is awaiting sentencing in Calgary after pleading guilty to raping a four-year-old boy in his foster home. The teen, identified as T, told police after his arrest on Jan. 3rd that the idea for the assaults, which occurred over the course of a year, came from watching “gay porn” on his foster parents’ home computer.

T’s assaults were discovered when he was caught in the midst of an attack by a neighbor who could see in the bedroom window from his office next door. The neighbour called 911, and when police arrived fifteen minutes later he pointed them to the window where the assault was still in progress.

The neighbor said the light in the bedroom went out as soon as the police knocked on the front door. T answered and admitted to the assault.

Judge Lynn Cook-Stanhope of Alberta’s Youth Court found T guilty in March. She was supposed to have heard sentencing arguments on July 23rd, but delayed over concerns stemming from a psychiatric report that indicated T may not have been mentally fit to stand trial. She has sent him for another assessment.

T was released on bail in January and has been living in a group home under house arrest. He has been forbidden to be in contact with anyone under the age of 16.

The foster parents were also caring for a six-year-old and two-year-old, and all four have been removed from the home. T had been with them for ten years.

A spokeswoman for Alberta’s Children and Youth Services, which administers the foster program, refused to comment to LifeSiteNews on what other action if any has been taken against the foster parents, citing privacy provisions.

Patrick A. Trueman, the former chief of the U.S. Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, told LifeSiteNews that the growth in internet use has been accompanied by an increasing number of cases involving child-on-child sex abuse.

“Children who view porn often act out and they do so on vulnerable children,” explained Trueman, who serves as president of Morality in Media. Law enforcement officials, he said, “almost uniformly associate a link between pornography and sex abuse in child-on-child sexual abuse.”

“I blame those in authority for not enforcing or not passing strict laws to curb the availability of pornography to children and adults,” he said.

“Most children who get pornography get it in their own home, from a parent’s collection or from an unblocked computer,” he continued. “Also, the widespread availability of pornography teaches children that porn is good. Their immature minds believe that if adults enjoy it and have easy access to it, especially adult relatives or friends, then it is good for them to enjoy as well.”

13-year-old says ‘gay porn’ led to repeated rape of 4-year-old

[LifeSite News 8/10/12 by Patrick B. Craine]

Canada goes very far in protecting the foster parents. Not only do they not name names, but they refuse to answer whether they instilled any accountability on the part of the foster parents allowing his to access porn! Keep their names private if you must, but at least acknowledge that something will be done as punishment and to try to prevent this from happening in the future.