Lawsuit:Foster and Adoptive Parents and Alberta, Canada

“An Edmonton man is seeking $700,000 from his childhood foster and adoptive parents he claims were abusive and the Alberta government that failed to protect him.

In a statement of claim, Kane Blacque alleges his childhood and teenage years were marked by sexual abuse in a foster home and physical abuse during a failed adoption.

Through it all, the lawsuit states, the Alberta government did little to shield him from harm.

“Child Welfare failed to fulfil its duty of care to protect Blacque from harm while he was in Child Welfare’s care and control,” the lawsuit reads.

Blacque, 39, was first apprehended by the province as an infant in 1976.

He became a full-time ward of the province when his mother was convicted of manslaughter in his sister’s 1979 death.

For four years, Blacque lived in a foster home where he claims he was subjected to sexual abuse by the family’s biological son on a weekly basis. His foster parents did nothing to protect him, Blacque states.

The family took “no steps to prevent the sexual abuse, even though they knew, or ought to have known that Blacque potentially suffered from abuse since the police had investigated allegations of sexual abuse while Blacque was in their care.”

In 1983, Blacque left that foster placement and was adopted into an Edmonton-area home after he was featured on a CTV segment designed to convince Albertans to adopt children in need. There, he alleges he was subjected to both physical and emotional abuse over six years.

The claim alleges his adoptive mother and father beat him wooden spoons and leather straps.

“Blacque suffered emotional abuse at the hands of (his adoptive father) who would tease him using demeaning and homophobic language, and demand he behave in a more masculine way.”

Statements of claim contain allegation not proven in court. The lawsuit also says Alberta’s child welfare system failed to properly screen the adoptive parents or monitor Blacque’s life in their home.

His relationship with his adoptive parents deteriorated further in 1989, when he was 13 and first recalled the sexual abuse he had endured in foster care. He left his adoptive home and remained in the provincial system until he turned 18.

During his time in the child welfare system, Blacque consumed alcohol and illegal drugs, worked in the sex-trade and attempted suicide several times, his claim states. Government employees were aware of this behaviour.

In the claim, Blacque also states he was molested by Doug Butler, who was convicted of numerous crimes against young boys and designated a long-term offender in 1999.

Earlier this year, Blacque spoke to the Journal about his experiences in the child welfare system after obtaining his childhood file through an Access to Information Request.

He said he was bounced between 20 placements in the his last five years under government care. It was at that time he worked as a child prostitute for money and affection, he said.

It wasn’t easy to survive those years, Blacque told the Journal: “I did it by fighting, kicking and screaming.”

In his claim, Blacque states his years under the Alberta government’s protection left him with post-traumatic stress disorder, sleep disorders, suicidal feelings, psychological trauma and difficulty with relationships in his adult life.”

Alberta government sued for $700,000 over claims of child abuse[Edmonton Journal 8/7/15 by Ryan Cormier]

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