Lawsuit (Canada):Child and Family Services of Western Manitoba

“A Brandon woman is suing a CFS agency and the provincial government, claiming she was sexually abused as a child in her foster home during the 1970s.

The 52-year-old plaintiff states that as a girl, she told a social worker she didn’t feel safe and wanted to be removed.

“The social worker did not act on these disclosures, did not remove plaintiff, did not refer the matter to police for investigation and by her inaction exposed the plaintiff to sexual assaults,” states the claim filed in Brandon.

The alleged assaults happened while the plaintiff was in the care of the Children’s Aid Society of Brandon, which later became Child and Family Services of Western Manitoba.

The claim states the society apprehended her when she was a girl, and she was nine years old when she was placed in the home of a Brandon man. The claim doesn’t specify his age or say if he was the foster parent.

The suit alleges the man showed the girl pornography and groomed her for sexual assaults when she was 12.

The suit argues the province and the society failed to take reasonable steps to keep her safe.

The statement of claim doesn’t specify what the plaintiff told the social worker. It doesn’t, for example, state whether she explicitly told the worker she was being abused.

Rather, it states she told the social worker she didn’t feel safe in the home and wanted to be removed or would run away.

She also suggested to the worker that her sister, who had been placed in the same home, had been abused by the same person.

A few months later, at the age of 14, the plaintiff ran away.

The plaintiff claims she provided the worker with enough information that she should have concluded the girl was at risk of sexual assault and should have removed her from the home.

The claim says the worker told the girl no other placement was available, and the sexual assaults continued.

The woman claims she suffers from trauma, depression, anxiety and troubles with relationships.

She claims she has also lost job opportunities and income.

Besides unspecified damages, the plaintiff seeks payment for past and future treatment.

No statement of defence has been filed.”

Ex-foster child sues CFS, alleges assault [Winnipeg Free Press 5/13/16  by Ian Hitchen]

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